Courtesy of NVW Motorsports Promotion
POMONA, Calif. (February 10) – For the fourth time in his career, Maddern Racing driver Chris Demke started the new season with a Circle K NHRA Winternationals victory last weekend. Demke and team worked through the challenges of their own car and a new team car to claim the California native's 16th Top Alcohol Dragster national event win.
In addition to Demke's championship car, Maddern Racing was fielding an experimental car with driver Ray Martin and car chief Kirk Kuhns. The results of the two cars surpassed most everyone's expectations as both cars advanced to the semifinals before Demke went on to win the race.
“After having won a championship, I was confident in our guys. I was confident in our ability to put the car I was driving back together in championship form and come out swinging. We had the added challenge of bringing a second car into the mix, the X car. But we had a great bunch of guys working on that car. Ray Martin is an excellent driver and he's adapted to the car quickly. We had Kirk come in to serve as the car chief on that car and it was a pleasure to work with him. He's a great guy and I look forward to future opportunities with him,” Demke noted.
While Martin's car was off to a great start, qualifying sixth with a 5.311 ET, Demke's car was struggling. The championship car went into eliminations from the eight spot.
“My car just wasn't responding. We still don't know exactly what the issue was. We made small changes between Q1 and Q2 and it went from a 5.35 to a 34. Then we made huge changes for Q3 and it went from a 34 to a 33. Going into first round we made bigger changes yet and it went from a 33 to a 32. We ended up swapping motors for second round and it responded and was back to its winning ways. I knew as soon as I did the burnout that it was going to be better than all of the previous runs.”
The run, 5.276, was much better and was enough to beat No. 1 qualifier Don St. Arnaud. Martin ran 5.284 to take out Ross Stickler in the second round.
“We came back from that round and our team was just elated. We knew we had the class's attention. We had two cars in the twenties and we were on opposite sides of the ladder. We knew our real goal of putting both cars in the finals had potential, but it wasn't meant to be.
“The barrel valve linkage on Ray's car came loose and when he went to stage the car the RPMs were erratic. It was amazing he was even able to get the car staged and launched as well as he did. The motor went lean and backfired the supercharger, unfortunately ending his day. It really bummed me out, because I was waiting to run behind him and expected to see his win light turn on. I had to keep my focus so we could advance to the final round and hopefully take home the Wally,” Demke recalled.
Chris Demke powered through the distraction to overcome rival Joey Severance in a 5.295 to 5.455 semifinal race. He clicked off his quickest run of the weekend, a 5.264, to beat Shawn Cowie's 5.367 in the final round. The win was his fourth (2010, 2012, 2014, 2015) Winternationals victory and 16th overall.
“Once we had all of our ducks in a row, our team knows how to go rounds,” Demke declared. “My team proved their mettle. They really did a great job because it really was a lot of work, even though we had two teams. We did the best with what we could and I certainly can't complain. While optimally we had this dream of having both cars in the finals, we came pretty darn close. We had one car in the semis and the other car won the race. That's a great thing.”
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/Boost Performance Products blown alcohol dragster is owned by Jerry Maddern and crewed by Adam Rhoades, Kevin Watson, Mike Demke, Greg Rice, Ron Mann 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., Boost Performance Products, B-G Detection, Afco, LA X-Ray, Jet-Lube, and Morningwood Energy Drink.
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