NORWALK, Ohio (July 1) – West coast Top Alcohol Dragster hitter Chris Demke won the O'Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals for the second year in a row, winning his second race in as many weeks. Racing at Route 66 Raceway near Joliet, Ill. last weekend, Demke also competed in his seventh JEGS Allstars event. Now Chris and his Maddern Racing teammates carry momentum as they head to the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals, July 3-6, for the first time.
Demke qualified No. 1 for the JEGS Allstars shootout race with a 5.39 pass. While typically an advantage, qualifying No. 1 lined up Chris against West Region teammate Joey Severance in the opening eliminations round. Chris improved slightly with a 5.377/268 MPH pass, but Severance improved greatly with a near-perfect .001 reaction time and 5.344 elapsed time.
“The team felt like we were punched in the gut,” Demke said of the first round loss. “We cherish the opportunity to race at the Allstars event. We have done well at the race recently, winning in 2012 and taking runner-up last year. We felt very confident in our chances.
“Going out early was tough to handle, but it gave us all day to take a look at what went wrong. We were able to come up with a solution before we went into national event competition on Sunday.”
Demke and the Peen Rite/OSI/Boost Performance Products team would get another chance to take down Severance, this time in the regular Route 66 Nationals eliminations. Chris first shut down Brandon Booher and Robin Samsel with 5.316 and 5.361 passes, respectively. The semifinal race between Demke and Severance would be epic, with both drivers cutting .038 lights and Chris finishing just one thousandth of a second ahead of Joey – 5.322 to 5.323.
“I figured, 'Okay, this is going to be my last run of the day but I'm going it give it my best.' With Joey's performance lately, not only his car's performance but his performance as a driver, I truly didn't think I had much of a chance. My lights were sub-standard, and I knew I had to dig deep to get to the final. When you feel like the serious underdog and you actually pull off a round win against somebody of his caliber, it's extremely exciting,” stated Chris, who is now tied for first in NHRA national points.
The California team faced another tough opponent in the final round. Both car and driver played equal roles in winning the round, but it was Demke's reaction time that sealed the deal. Finalist Mike Manners ran a 5.305, but Chris' slower but winning 5.313 was enough to win – on a holeshot.
“I was feeling like we had already won the race after our semifinal race against Joey, so it was hard to get up for the final round. Mike Manners ran a 5.26 in his semifinal round, so again I went in feeling like the underdog. We just kept our performance consistent and didn't try anything stupid. The fact that I won it on a holeshot is icing on the cake,” added Demke, the back-to-back Route 66 Nationals champ.
Now Chris and the Jerry Maddern-owned Peen Rite team head to Norwalk, Ohio's Summit Motorsports Park for the 8th Annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals, July 3-6.
“Every year our team tries to go to a new track that we've never visited. For the last few years, all of the eastern teams have told us that we need to go to Norwalk. After hearing everyone's reviews, I'm really looking forward to experiencing all of the positive aspects of the track for myself – especially the pound of ice cream for a dollar,” Chris laughed.
Summit Racing Equipment Nationals Top Alcohol Dragster qualifying begins on Friday with runs at 12:30 and 3:30 PM. A final session is set for noon on Saturday, followed by first round of eliminations at 3 PM. Eliminations continue on Sunday.
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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