Demke Caps Off Championship Season at 50th Annual Auto Club Finals, NHRA Awards Banquets

Courtesy of NVW Motorsports Promotion
Photos courtesy of Maddern Racing

POMONA, Calif. (November 19, 2014) – While Chris Demke didn't bookend his dream season with a win at the Auto Club NHRA Finals, he did accomplish a few goals set for the season finale. Demke and his Peen Rite Top Alcohol Dragster team celebrated their national championship with family and friends, drummed up interest in their spare 'For Rent' dragster, and enjoyed some success, qualifying No. 3 and reaching the semifinals. It was a fitting end to a monumental season for the fun-loving, hardworking Maddern Racing team.

“It certainly went well but it didn't end like we hoped it would,” Demke said of the Finals. “We received numerous inquiries about driving this car next year, which was our goal. While we haven't signed any deals, we talked with numerous players. Performance-wise, the car ran a few twenties. I think there's more left in it, we're just creeping up on it. The chassis is still plenty competitive, as competitive as the championship car.”

Demke was driving a car the team retired in 2012 and recently refurbished for possible use next season. A 5.277 lap in the opening qualifying session put Demke in the third spot going into eliminations. The Peen Rite/OSI/Boost Performance Products dragster ran a pair of 5.29s to defeat fellow blown alcohol drivers Ross Stickler and Mark Taliaferro. Chris encountered trouble on the semifinal, though, where he fell to A/Fuel rookie Cameron Ferre, who ran low ET and top speed of eliminations.

“The car washed out at the launch and started heading for the center line. I tried to correct it but it was already too far out of the groove for me to recover completely. I gave it a couple good tugs on the steering wheel and it went towards the wall. It was at that point that I lifted my foot off the throttle and coasted to the finish. I didn't need to smash up this car. I gotta hand it to Cameron Ferre and his crew chief, Larry Miersch. They ran that incredible 5.25. Even if our car went straight, I don't think we would have won. My hat's off to them for bringing their best to the table for that semifinal,” Demke admitted.

Always with a positive outlook, Demke pointed out the highlights of the weekend, which was capped off on Monday evening with the NHRA Lucas Oil Series and Mello Yello Series awards banquets in Los Angeles.

“It was great to see so many friends and fans at the track. The stands seemed full all four days. The weather was great all weekend. It was a nice ending to the season. The banquet was wonderful, to be there with Steve Harker and the other Lucas Oil national champions. Forrest, Charlotte and Morgan Lucas were there representing Lucas Oil. It was nice to have a venue to thank our crew and celebrate our championship.”

Our team has been racing for over twenty years now. We weren't always expecting to win a championship, but our performance levels in recent years have proven that we're championship contenders. Finishing second three of the last four years was proof that we were close. I don't want to say it was a long time coming, and I wasn't expecting it, but it certainly felt wonderful to prove that we were a championship caliber team.

Demke and his Maddern Racing teammates proved their abilities in a big way this season, winning five national events including the 60th Annual U.S. Nationals. Two national wins happened in the same weekend at Reading, where the national championship was also decided. Demke also claimed the West Region championship, thanks to four consecutive regional event wins. Additionally, the Peen Rite dragster finishes the 2014 season as the fastest blown alcohol dragster ever at 277.94 MPH, set on the trifecta weekend at Reading.

“Winning the regional championship was cool. It wasn't our goal, but I think it was the result of our strategy for the national championship run. Winning Indy was wonderful. I'm thrilled to have won it and received a ring at the 60th anniversary of the U.S. Nationals, but you know what? Someone wins Indy every year. The weekend in Reading, where we secured the championship, won the Charlotte make-up race, and then won Reading – that was a once-in-a-lifetime event. I don't have words to describe what that weekend was like. When I think of that weekend, I also don't know which part to celebrate. It's too immense to think of what we accomplished that weekend. On top of that, Steve Harker did it in Top Alcohol Funny Car. The stars and moon were certainly aligned,” Chris said.

Chris Demke praised his Peen Rite/Operational Solutions/Boost Performance Products team and their sponsors for their efforts this season.

“This season wouldn't have been possible without the hard work and dedication from my team: Jerry, Dixie and Aimee Maddern, Mike Demke, Kevin Watson, Adam Rhoades, Robert Hadaller, and Greg Rice. I also want to thank Bill Swanson of Peen Rite, Brent Gines of Boost Performance Products, Kent Goss from Operational Solutions Inc., and Brent Winberg from CleanBoost Oils. Individual companies who helped this year were Hoosier Tire, B-G Detection, Abrasive Finishing Company, LA X-Ray, Boninfante Friction Surfaces, Brad Anderson Enterprises, and Morningwood Energy Drink.”

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, LA X-Ray, Jet-Lube, and Morningwood Energy Drink.

TAFC Title Decided But Top 10 Still Wide Open

Courtesy of Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
Photo courtesy of David Smith

With a Manzo-like late-season charge, Steve Harker clinched the 2014 Top Alcohol Funny Car championship with a month left in the season and became the first driver from outside North American ever to win an NHRA championship in any category.

The Australian veteran, who barely raced last year, didn't race at all the two years before that, and insisted all along that 2014 was just a "test year," got faster and faster as the year wore on and claimed a championship that once seemed destined to go to Dale Brand. A Top 5 driver in each of his last three full seasons (2008-10), and the number 2 driver of 2008 and 2009, Harker reached the final at six of his last seven starts (all but the U.S. Nationals) and won all six – Norwalk, St. Louis, Bowling Green, Dallas, Charlotte, and Reading.

Brand topped the rankings almost all year but dropped crucial head-to-head showdowns with Harker at Reading on the last weekend of his season. Both came in semifinal matchups, and Brand drilled the Tree both times with clutch .022 and .019 reaction times, but both times – in the rescheduled Charlotte race held in conjunction with Reading and in the Reading event itself – he had to fight just to keep his car in his lane while Harker streaked to near-perfect runs. Brand's once insurmountable lead was down to a single point by the time they staged in the Reading semi's, and Harker, for the third of four times that weekend, established a new career best (5.51, 5.48, 5.45). His amazing Speed City Monte Carlo then picked up another three-hundredths to a 5.42 in the final, the third-quickest run of all time behind only Manzo's consecutive 5.41s in the last two rounds of his title-clinching win at this race in 2011.

Brand's title bid began to unravel when he dropped final-round decisions he was favored to win on back-to-back days last month – both against upstart Scott McVey, who won his first national event title at the rain-delayed Brainerd race that was completed at Earlville then at the Earlville regional itself. Brand reached at least the semifinals in 13 of 15 starts this year, claimed his first national event victory in Topeka, and lost two other winnable finals – in Gainesville, where he narrowly red-lighted against Dan Pomponio, and in the rescheduled Brainerd final against McVey. He didn't lose in the first round all year, won four events in eight final-round appearances overall, and amassed a 35-11 win-loss mark.

Brand might have a stranglehold on the number 2 spot, but the battle for position throughout the rest of the Top 10 remains wide-open; drivers not even in the Top 10 can still end up as high as third place, which is currently held by all-time great Jay Payne. 2014 was another solid season for Payne, highlighted by a second career U.S. Nationals title. Out of races to claim, he'll finish no better than third but is guaranteed to make the Top 10 for the 15th year in a row – every year except his rookie year in Top Alcohol Funny Car, 1999 – and likely to make the Top 5.

Four rounds behind Payne is Shane Westerfield, who was third last year. He's fourth now, with a national event victory (Houston) and a regional victory (Las Vegas), and one round ahead of a four-way logjam of drivers separated by just two points: Lombardo, Pomponio, Kris Hool, and Clint Thompson.

Lombardo, runner-up for the 2013 championship and a Top 5 driver the past two years, currently is fifth with 498 points but is out of races to claim and can only go down from there. Pomponio, who backed up his 2013 Gainesville and Charlotte victories by repeating at both, is sixth, and though he still has two more national events to claim, the New Jersey driver won't be making the cross-country trek to Las Vegas and Pomona to lock down another Top 5 finish.

Hool, a two-time winner on the regional tour this year, including at his most recent stop, in Noble, Okla., will pass both Pomponio and Lombardo if he wins a single round at either of the two remaining national events. Thompson, tied with Hool at 496 and a three-time finalist this year in regional competition, also will pass Pomponio and Lombardo with a round-win at either Las Vegas or Pomona.

Doug Gordon, who swept the national and regional events at Seattle this year, might be in a better position than anyone but Harker and Brand. With 466 points in just nine starts, he'll almost certainly make the Top 5 and probably the top three. Perennial Top 10 driver Chris Foster, who won the Norwalk regional for the third year in a row, is one point behind Gordon but, because he's not heading west next month, is in danger of missing out on what would be his fourth appearance in the Top 10.

Just outside the Top 10 loom several drivers with an excellent shot at passing Foster, particularly Brian Hough, Sean Bellemeur, and Annie Whiteley. All three should be at the last three races of the year – the national events at Pomona and Las Vegas and the always brutal Vegas regional.

Hough, the early points leader with victories at the Winternationals and the Phoenix regional, will overtake Foster by just qualifying for either national event and he, like Gordon, can finish as high as third. Bellemeur, probably the most overdue driver in Top Alcohol Funny Car, will be at the wheel of Spiro Kontos' car at the Vegas regional and his own car at both national events. Whiteley, who won nine races in 12 final-round appearances and made not just the Top 10 but the Top 5 in each of her first two years in Top Alcohol Funny Car, surprisingly has been shut out this year. She has three runner-ups, including one at a national event, but has been upset in the first round in five of her last six outings despite qualifying in the top half every time.

Chris Demke, Maddern Racing Secure 2014 NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster National Championship

Courtesy of NVW Motorsports Promotion

MOHNTON, Pa. (October 5) – When a fan or fellow competitor mentions Chris Demke's name in the same sentence as Top Alcohol Dragster champions like Bill Reichert or Duane Shields, the excited yet humble Californian doesn't always realize he's reached that status. He came close multiple times in the last few years, finishing second in national points after three of the last four seasons. Now a few days after he won the delayed semifinal race from Charlotte, therefore clinching the title, the reality is starting to set in for Demke; he's the 2014 NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster world champion.

“After winning the championship on Friday night, I still had to think about winning the Charlotte race and now I'm still thinking about the Maple Grove race. While we did celebrate the championship on Friday night, I haven't had time to relax and think about the accomplishment. It could've been a larger celebration, but we knew we still had two races left to win,” Demke noted.

The road to the 2014 national championship started at Maddern Racing's home track, Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, where Demke won the season-opening Circle K Winternationals. National event wins followed at the O'Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 Nationals in Chicago, the historic Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, and most recently the Carolina Nationals from Charlotte, completed this weekend at the NHRA Nationals in Reading, Pa. Demke also amassed an impressive four consecutive Lucas Oil Series regional event wins during his championship season.

“I was on top of the world after we won Pomona. I didn't want to admit it and I knew it was far too early in the season to think about it, but I thought that championship would be easy at that point. Our performance was great. I knew there would be some tough competition. Then we fell into a slump. I never had a situation where things were going so well then went so bad so quickly. After the next few races we parked the car because we were hurting too many parts and we didn't know what was wrong. We took six weeks to debug the car and went on the road to Topeka to essentially treat it as a test to see if we fixed the problem. Our performance wasn't great but we weren't hurting parts. We went to Acton, Montana's regional and things just went well from there.

“I wasn't even looking at points after Vegas. I had given up any chance or hope of winning a championship this year. Even after Topeka I thought we had missed too much time. It really didn't seem that we had the chance at such a comeback but lo and behold we went to Acton and ended up beating Joey Severance in the final, giving me a little glimmer of hope. The tear we've been on since then has just been incredible. I try to make every race fun, but when you can throw as many Wallys as we've brought home into the mix, it's been extremely fun. Adam (Rhoades, tuner) always says after we win a race that 'we're at the top of the mountain looking down and it's good.' Well we're at the top of the tallest mountain; we've climbed the Everest of drag racing and we're looking down and it's good,” added Demke.

“We fought back from the highest high to the lowest low. It was a testament to the team. We never lost focus and we knew we could make it happen, we just had to put our nose to the grindstone and we did. We honestly have made no mistakes in the last four or five months. The crew has been flawless, Chris' driving has improved tremendously since the Seattle national and it all came together when it had to at the right time,” Rhoades claimed.

With the championship pressure out of the way, Chris Demke and the Jerry Maddern-owned Peen Rite/Operational Solutions Inc./Boost Performance Products team are really swinging for the fences. During first round of eliminations for the NHRA Nationals on Saturday, Demke ripped off the quickest blown alcohol dragster pass of the season, a 5.217 at a booming 277.94 miles per hour. The run ranks fourth on the all-time list of quickest blown alcohol runs in NHRA history. The speed is the fastest ever for a supercharged, methanol-burning dragster.

“I knew after the 5.29 (during Charlotte eliminations) that if it didn't shake and Chris didn't have to pedal it the performance would be there. I honestly think there's more left. I think if it sticks, if it makes it to a hundred feet, it'll go in the teens. It actually has a lot left early so we'll see what happens,” said Rhoades.

Chris Demke and the Peen Rite team look to improve their career-best numbers and dip into the elusive five-teen zone today during the continuation of eliminations for the NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway. Demke will face A/Fuel driver Jeff Veale in the second round.

 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, LA X-Ray, Jet-Lube, and Morningwood Energy Drink.

Demke Within Two Round Wins of First National Championship at NHRA Nationals

Courtesy of NVW Motorsports Promotion

MOHNTON, Pa. (October 2, 2014) Top Alcohol Dragster national championship contender Chris Demke didn't anticipate a stop at the NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway until he fell a couple rounds short of clinching the title at the last race in Dallas. Demke, who would've locked up the championship with a win at Dallas, lost to title rival Joey Severance in the semifinals due to a broken blower belt. This weekend, the California native is competing in two races – the remainder of eliminations from the Pep Boys NHRA Carolina Nationals and the NHRA Nationals.

“The Charlotte make-up race counts as my tenth race and the last race I can claim for points. While I'm here at Maple Grove, I'm really only thinking about Charlotte. Although we brought enough oil and parts to run both races, our first focus is winning the Charlotte race,” Demke claimed.

This weekend will be a test for the recently successful Demke and his Maddern Racing teammates, who won several races during the hot summer months. With cool temperatures expected throughout the NHRA Nationals, the Peen Rite team will be faced with conditions they haven't seen in months.

“Finishing the Charlotte race at Maple Grove doesn't fall into our strategy at all. We wanted to hit as many hot, higher altitude races as possible. Maple Grove is one of the quickest, if not the quickest, tracks in the country because of the great air and cool weather. The cars make a lot of horsepower here,” Chris explained.

Demke, who runs a supercharged, methanol-burning entry for team owner and stepfather Jerry Maddern, will have a close eye on his nitro-injected A/Fuel competitors this weekend. The nitro-burners typically excel in the conditions that will be present at Maple Grove Raceway.

“Coming here to chase the championship is very much like coming into the lion's den to finish this out. The A/Fuel cars will probably have the advantage but I have every bit of confidence that our car will be able to produce an enormous amount of horsepower this weekend. Our other option would've been going to Vegas or Pomona to finish this out. Because we did win first round at Charlotte, we're that one round closer to winning the championship. That's why we came here,” Demke noted.

The remaining three rounds of eliminations from the NHRA Carolina Nationals will be completed during qualifying for the NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway near Reading, PA, October 3-5. Q1 on Friday morning will serve as the first qualifying session for the Maple Grove race. The quarterfinals and semifinals from Charlotte will be contested during Q2 (Friday afternoon) and Q3 (Saturday morning). The final round race will take place before the first round of eliminations for Maple Grove on Saturday evening. Maple Grove 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, LA X-Ray, and Morningwood Energy Drink.