Photo courtesy of John Teas/Images LTD
LAS VEGAS (April 1) – Another Vegas early exit was not what Chris Demke and his Maddern Racing team mates were looking for when they returned to The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Racing at the NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals, Demke qualified No. 3 with a satisfying 5.328/269 MPH, but his Peen Rite Top Alcohol Dragster was back on the trailer after the second round of eliminations.
“The weekend started good. Our plan for the weekend was to start running low thirties again. Our tune-up for the car worked great for the first round of qualifying. We were quite pleased with that first run. Things went downhill from there. It was a combination of tune-up and technical issues,” Chris said.
Chris' Peen Rite/Operational Solutions/Boost Performance Products blown alcohol dragster won the first round match with Derik Milanesio, 5.389 to 5.60. Disappointment followed in the next round, where Demke's 5.429 lost a close race to Don St. Arnaud's 5.403.
“Certainly we didn't want to go out second round,” Demke added. “Don St. Arnaud keeps whoopin' my butt. Our team is better than this. I know we can do better. Going out second round just doesn't show our team's full potential.”
Discouraged from two consecutive weeks of early round losses, Chris and the Peen Rite team have elected to take a step back and diagnose the car's issues before racing again, saying, “We're going to go back, regroup, and come back swinging when we're ready. I don't think we'll be racing again until we know we have our engine issues resolved.”
Reflecting on the back-to-back regional and national events, Chris Demke had this to say.
“That's racing. It will humble you. We got cocky after winning Pomona. The race car and racing in general told us, 'You guys better settle down. Here's a nice slice of humble pie.' So we're gonna go finish that pie, take some time off, and come back when we're hungry again.”
Subscribe to updates via the Maddern Racing Facebook page (www.facebook.com/maddernracing) to find out when Chris and the Peen Rite/OSI/Boost Performance Products TAD team will race next.
Maddern Racing is a family-owned and operated NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster team based in Southern California. The team's Chris Demke-driven Peen Rite/Operational Solutions/Boost Performance Products blown alcohol dragster is owned by Jerry Maddern and crewed by Adam Rhoades, Kevin Watson, Mike Demke, Greg Rice, and Robert Hadaller. For more information on Chris Demke and Maddern Racing, please visit www.MaddernRacing.com.
Maddern Racing receives support from the following companies: Peen Rite Inc., Operational Solutions Inc., Boost Performance Products, B-G Detection, Afco, and LA X-Ray.
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