Demke Reaches Fourth 2013 Final Round, Takes National Points Lead

Courtesy of NVW Motorsports Promotion
Photo courtesy of David Smith

JOLIET, Ill. (June 10, 2013) – Maddern Racing driver Chris Demke leaves the Burndown at Sundown NHRA regional event with the national points lead after reaching his fourth final round of the 2013 season. The Californian team lost in the finals to first-time winner Brandon Booher after setting the two quickest ETs of the race in prior rounds.

“The team and I certainly wanted to win. This is our fourth final this season and our fourth runner-up. We’re bound to win one soon. I might never win one again or I might win out the rest of the season. Either way, there’s no place I’d rather be than strapped in that race car, getting ready to make a run,” Demke said.

Demke only made two runs during qualifying, both plagued with tire shake. The first pass, a 5.387 at 269 MPH, put the Peen Rite/Operational Solutions/801 Racing dragster in the #2 spot. Chris was able to pedal through shake earlier on the Q2 run, resulting in a 5.361/271 MPH trip down the Route 66 Raceway quarter-mile. A minor parts failure found minutes prior to the final qualifying session forced the team to skip the run.

“We went up for the final run and saw Booher run 5.32, so I figured we would run a mid to low five-twenty if the tune-up worked. There was an issue with the air bottle when we turned it on, then the fitting broke when we went to change it out, so we had to abort the run. We thought we made a change in the right direction but we were unable to verify it then. We went into first round of eliminations with that same tune-up, confident enough that it was the right move,” Chris recalled.

That decision paid off, as Demke set low ET and top speed of the race to beat Jared Dreher in a 5.301 to 5.44 first round match-up. Chris was given the second round win when opponent Robin Samsel left too early. Demke went on to run 5.31 at 270 MPH. That run gave the Jerry Maddern-owned team lane choice going into the finals against Brandon Booher.

According to Chris, a parts swap after first round led the Peen Rite dragster to smoke the tires immediately in the finals.

“It banged the blower as I crossed the finish line first round because the throttle hung open.  It didn’t hurt the motor but the fuel return manifold was damaged. A check valve was changed in the process, also changing the pressure, which caused the car to be much more aggressive in staging and at the launch. It was on the ragged edge in the semifinals – we questioned why the car made it down the track. We tickled the fuel system slightly for the final round. It wasn’t enough, as it smoked the tires at the hit of the throttle,” Chris added. “I want to congratulate Brandon Booher on his first event win. They’re a great up and coming team and I’m sure they’ll have more success to follow.”

Chris tried to recover, but Booher was too far ahead. Demke ran 5.93 to Booher’s 5.38. Though he’s still left looking for his first event win of the season, Chris pointed out the positives of the weekend.

“The weekend wasn’t a complete failure. We learned a lot about the car and how it reacts to certain problems. We had over six hundred runs on the old car so we knew it inside and out. We now have just over forty runs on the current car so we’re still learning more about it every race and every run. We also got some good data that should help us at the Route 66 Nationals as well as with our Jegs Allstars title defense.”

Chris finished by offering well wishes to his mother, Dixie Maddern, one of the team’s strongest supporters. “We missed having my mom out at the track with us this weekend. She’s at home recuperating so hopefully she’ll be able to rejoin the team soon.”

Maddern Racing, celebrating 20 years of competition in 2013, is a family-owned and operated NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster team based in Southern California. The Chris Demke-driven Peen Rite/OSI/801 Racing dragster is owned by Jerry Maddern and crewed by Adam Rhoades, Kevin Watson, Mike Demke, and Ron Mann. For more information on Maddern Racing, please visit www.MaddernRacing.com.

Maddern Racing receives support from the following companies: Peen Rite Inc., Operational Solutions Inc., 801 Racing, A1 Technologies, Boninfante Friction Inc., and Hoosier Racing Tire.