Photo courtesy of Images LTD
TOPEKA, Kan. (May 27) – Top Alcohol Dragster standout Chris Demke is glad to be back in the seat of his Peen Rite/OSI/Boost Performance Products entry after nearly two months off. Demke's Maddern Racing team used the NHRA Kansas Nationals as a meter for their off-time improvements. A top-half qualifying effort and strong first round win have Demke and his team excited as they head into the summer races.
Persistent rain storms and on-track delays took away two of the scheduled TAD qualifying sessions, leaving Maddern Racing crew chief/team owner Jerry Maddern and tuner Adam Rhoades with just one run to work with going into eliminations. A 5.398/268 MPH lap during Friday's session ranked Chris seventh, giving him lane choice over first round opponent Chase Copeland.
“The rain delays give you plenty of time to sit around and think, which can be good or bad. Too much time to think gives you too much time to over-think different scenarios. Clearly we would've liked more qualifying runs to give us more chances to see if our changes worked, but it doesn't always work out that way,” Demke noted.
Eliminations started on a positive note, with Chris running a 5.336 at 267 MPH to take down Chase Copeland's 5.47. Demke wasn't so lucky in the next round, falling to Copeland's Randy Meyer Racing team mate, Shayne Lawson, in a 5.35 to 5.40 race.
“It wasn't a bad weekend overall. We certainly would've liked to go deeper into eliminations but we just missed it on the tune-up on Sunday. On the positive side, the 5.33 we ran first round of eliminations was by far the quickest run by our team at Topeka, which proves that we're on the right track. We didn't see any of the issues that were plaguing us early in the season on any of the three runs. I won't claim victory or say that the issues are completely solved, as three runs isn't enough to determine that, but it's a good indication that we're heading in the right direction,” Demke added optimistically.
After a break that started after the Las Vegas races earlier this spring, the weekend at Heartland Park Topeka was still rewarding for Demke.
“It's great to be back racing. We had to take a step back and take a look at our program. I think it was very valuable. I'm cautiously optimistic, but the efforts by the team during our break were reflected in the performance and health of the motor at the end of the three runs,” concluded the fan favorite Californian.
Chris Demke leaves the NHRA Kansas Nationals sitting third in the NHRA Lucas Oil Series national points standings. The next race for Maddern Racing is the NHRA LODRS regional event at Yellowstone Dragway near Billings, MT, June 21-22.
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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