Photo courtesy of John Teas/Images LTD
POMONA, Calif. (November 14)
– A second round loss at the AAA Finals at Auto Club Raceway was
definitely not what Chris Demke had in mind when he envisioned the
final race of his 2013 season. The popular Top Alcohol Dragster
driver isn't used to early round losses, as he has reached the finals
at six of his ten national event starts this season. With the points
situation already played out, Demke and his Peen Rite team took the
chance to test new ideas for next season.
“I would've liked to go
out with a bang rather than a whimper, but you can't win them all. We
had second place in national points locked up and we couldn't go
around Jim (Whiteley) for the championship. We took the opportunity
to test some things. It's not often that you get to test on a
high-quality track like Pomona. This team is always trying to win,
even in test mode, but it just wasn't in the cards,” Chris claimed.
Chris drove the Peen
Rite/OSI/Boost Performance Products dragster to the No. 5 qualifying
spot (5.29) before defeating 2011 national champion Duane Shields in
the opening round, 5.30 to 5.43. Demke's car slowed slightly in the
next round, enough for Garrett Bateman to get the 5.30 to 5.33 round
win.
Demke's 2013 season began
when the Maddern Racing team acquired a decade-old chassis similar to
the one Chris drove to multiple wins in 2012. Despite its age, the
car had few runs on it and the Peen Rite team had no data for the
car. The car showed promise immediately, reaching the finals at the
season-opening Pomona and Las Vegas national events. While successful
at times, the team struggled with 'new car blues' when it came to the
money round.
“Our inability to convert
final rounds into wins kept us from winning the championship. Part of
that was learning the new chassis, but there were other mistakes made
as well, driver and mechanical. We're working on that part of the
program as well. We'll see the result in 2014
“We tried a lot of changes
this year, trying to get a handle on the new chassis. I won't know
until we start making runs next year, but I think we've made a change
that should be beneficial for quicker E.T.s,” Demke said.
Chris also reflected on the
highlights of the season, citing his Jegs Allstars runner-up/Route 66
Nationals win at Chicago as one of the best weekends of the year.
“Winning Chicago was
really cool. We came so close to doubling up. It would've been great
to get that bonus, but maybe next year. I'm currently leading Jegs
Allstars points in the West Region. Hopefully we can continue that
lead and make it out to Chicago again next year.
“Overall, it was a fun
year. It was bittersweet in that we lost a lot of finals. However, we
won a lot of rounds and I'm proud of our guys for that,” added the
driver of the Peen Rite/OSI/Boost Performance Products blown alcohol
dragster.
Chris and the rest of the
Jerry Maddern-owned team will enjoy a few months away from the track
before the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series starts up again at
Pomona in February.
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/Boost
Performance Products 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., Boost Performance Products, Boninfante
Friction Inc., and Hoosier Racing Tire.
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