Demke Picks Up Fourth Winternationals Win

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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Defending TAD National Champ Chris Demke Enters Pomona with Teammate

Courtesy of NVW Motorsports Promotion
TAN photos



 

POMONA, Calif. (February 4) – This weekend kicks off the 2015 NHRA drag racing season with the Circle K NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona. For the first time in his decade-long driving career, Chris Demke enters the season as the defending NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster world champion.

“It's exciting, a little nervous,” Demke said of the position he's in. “I feel I pretty much have a target on my back but I'm ready to pick up where we left off last year.”

To aid in their title defense, Demke and the Maddern Racing team will field a second blown alcohol dragster at their first two races, the Winternationals and the Phoenix regional event. Demke will continue to drive the championship Peen Rite/Boost Performance Products Car. Alaska's Ray Martin, who finished fourth in TAD national points in 2013, will drive the experimental “X” car.

“When the world championship team calls you to drive their second car, you say yes,” Martin said. “Whatever happens during that time or after is what it is. We're just going to have fun and go some rounds. Thanks to Maddern Racing. It's a great group of guys and it's just awesome to be a part of this, especially because of who they are and what they've accomplished. We're really happy and proud to be a part of it.”

Adding another car can be a daunting task, but a few key factors will help ease the challenge for the SoCal team.

"We're using Clint Thompson's Top Alcohol Funny Car crew to work on it, so it's an experienced group. I think more it's the challenges of trying to tune and manage two cars through the course of the weekend. We're just going to have fun and try to go with it.

“I'm glad the schedule is the way it is. We get one run on Thursday and one on Friday afternoon. We have plenty of time between those runs to get both cars properly set up. There won't be a rush the first two days of qualifying, which is optimal,” Demke remarked.

The tuning responsibilities will be shared amongst the team. Adam Rhoades will continue to focus on the ignition timing and clutch and transmission set-up. Demke will decide the fuel system settings. They intend to stick with what they know on the championship car while experimenting with the “X” car.

“(Team owner) Jerry Maddern has put together some good, solid engine combinations for both cars. They're not identical. We're trying some stuff in the X car that we've never used previously. Nothing too extreme yet, though,” Demke added.

The 2014 U.S. Nationals winner experiences a range of emotions at the start of any season, but especially this one, ranging from excited to nervous. He realizes the season-opening race doesn't decide the rest of the season or the final outcome.

“If you look at how last year went, our team dominated the first race and then we struggled through the next four races. So it's hard to say. I don't think the first race can really set the tone. It's a long season. That first event is really just everyone getting their feet wet and ready for this year. It looks like there are 20 cars entered, which I think is a good way to start the season. There's a lot of participation and I think everyone will go out and give it their best shot.”

Top Alcohol Dragster qualifying at the Circle K NHRA Winternationals, Feb. 5-8, starts at 4 PM Thursday and continues with sessions at 2:15 PM Friday and 11:15 AM Saturday. Eliminations start at 2:30 PM on Saturday and resume with second round on Sunday afternoon.

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, Denali Concrete and Morningwood Energy Drink.

 

 

Hirata, Hool Take Upset-Filled Norwalk Race

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

At the wide-open Summit Racing Equipment Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio, Dave Hirata broke through for his first national event victory in 13 years and Kris Hool earned his second career title. Seven of the eight semifinalists in Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car – everyone but superstar Frank Manzo – had combined for one national event win since the turn of the century. Hirata, who last scored at the rain-delayed Englishtown race in September 2000, won Top Alcohol Dragster with an 18-second pass when No. 1 qualifier Ray Martin red-lighted in the final, and Hool ran a consistent 5.65 to take out Fred Tigges in Top Alcohol Funny Car.

Hirata was the only Top Alcohol Dragster driver still around for the semi's who'd ever won a national event before, though by that point Martin clearly was the favorite. Martin, at the wheel of Hugh Ridley's blown-alcohol dragster, had low e.t. of both qualifying sessions – matching 5.34s – and low e.t. of each of the first two rounds, back-to-back 5.39s against Canadian Jeff Veale and 2011 event winner Marty Thacker. With his second teen light in a row, Martin defeated ever-improving Robin Samsel on a semifinal holeshot, 5.47 to 5.42.

Hirata qualified just 15^th but upset the most accomplished driver in the field, five-time world champ Bill Reichert, in the first round Saturday afternoon, 5.56 to a tire-shaking 5.67. He won all three rounds Sunday at the starting line, starting with Ken Perry in round two on a holeshot and his only run all weekend that would have been quick enough to advance, 5.46 to 5.42. To reach his first final since the 2007 U.S. Nationals, Hirata won the other semifinal match with a 5.54 when rival Brandon Booher red-lighted by the smallest detectable margin, .001 second, nullifying a quicker 5.42.

Martin had another .01 light in the final – unfortunately for him, it was a -.014, voiding his 5.50 and handing the win to Hirata, who collected his first Wally since the 2000 season, when he won three times (Atlanta, St. Louis, and Englishtown) and appeared in five finals.

Hool qualified No. 3, behind heavy hitters Tony Bartone and Manzo, who tied for the top spot with 5.594s (Bartone won the tiebreaker on speed, 262.33 mph to 259.91), and had by far the best car all weekend. His final-round 5.65 actually was his slowest run of eliminations. Every other one was between 5.61 and 5.64, highlighted by a 5.61 semifinal win over Manzo, who was coming off low e.t. (5.57) in the previous round. Hool opened eliminations with a 5.64 against John Bojec and took a come-from-behind win over early season points leader Dan Pomponio in the quarterfinals, 5.62 to 5.71.

Tigges shut off to a 6.21 in the opening round against 2009 Norwalk runner-up Chris Foster, who banged the blower, and made his best run of the event, 5.65, in a second-round decision over Lance Van Hauen, who had taken out Bartone in the first round when Bartone got over the centerline.

Tigges idled downtrack on a semifinal single when Paul Noakes was shut off at the line with an oil leak following a between-rounds thrash. Both drivers had one previous final-round appearance, both against Manzo. Tigges, whose other final came in a barrage of 5.50s at the 2011 U.S. Nationals, cut a .015 light in the final and was ahead by a full tenth at the 60-foot mark but shook the tires and had to lift.

With the win, Hool, who was coming off five consecutive first-round losses, leaped back into the top 10 with his second career title and first since Brainerd in 2011. Martin is up to fourth in the Top Alcohol Dragster standings and has been to at least two fewer races than all three drivers ahead of him – Jim Whiteley, Chris Demke, and Rich McPhillips.

Whiteley Completes Perfect Season in TAFC, Martin Wins TAD in Vegas

Courtesy of Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
Photos courtesy of Bob Johnson

At the 24^th and final regional event of the year, the husband-and-wife team of Jim and Annie Whiteley locked up West Region championships at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Jim in Top Alcohol Dragster and rookie Annie in Top Alcohol Funny Car. Jim clinched the title when yearlong rival Chris Demke hit the wall in the first round, and Annie completed a perfect five-win regional season, putting away Tony Bartone in the final just as she had at this same track eight months ago for her first win anywhere. Ray Martin of Anchorage persevered in Top Alcohol Dragster, where there were a lot more good runs in qualifying than in eliminations, for his third final-round appearance of the year and first win.

It was a huge upset when Whiteley beat Bartone here this spring in just her fourth start in a Funny Car, and Bartone again was the favorite after qualifying No. 1, but Whiteley left first with a .048 light and made her best run of the weekend, 5.57. "The car didn't shake at all," she said. "Absolutely no issues. He shook, and that was it." Bartone slowed to a 5.76, almost the same e.t. he ran against her in their first head-to-head final.

Whiteley now has five victories and a perfect score of 425 points in a region that includes Jay Payne, Bartone, five-time division champ Steve Gasparrelli, and 2011 Division 7 champion John Lombardo Jr. After qualifying just sixth with a 5.66, she took care of Payne in round one, 5.63 to a shut-off 9.25.

Earlier in the round, Bartone beat Shane Westerfield, 5.58 to 5.67, Dallas winner Clint Thompson moved on when Gasparrelli tapped the wall, and Lombardo's 5.70 to 5.71 decision over Kris Hool gave the Central Region title to Kirk Williams over Hool by a single point, 299 to 298.

Every car in attendance ran at least a low .70 in qualifying, and past event winners Doug Gordon, Jason Rupert, and Keeter Ray missed the all-5.60 field. Bartone led the way with a 5.550 that held up all weekend for low e.t., and took his third runner-up in four regional starts this year.

In the semifinals, Bartone, who swept both Vegas national events this year, including the Big O Tires Nationals over Whiteley last weekend, won a battle for traction with Thompson, 6.04 to Thompson's shut-off 9.68. Whiteley won the other semi over Lombardo on a holeshot, 5.64 to 5.60, with a .037 light against his not-bad .078.

"It's exciting to leave on some people," said Whiteley, who was out first in all three rounds. "Jim promised it would help if I practiced with him, so I did, and Roger kept saying that the good lights would come, and they did."

With two runner-ups in national event competition and seven final-round appearances overall, she's number 4 in the country with one race to go, the same place crew chief Roger Bateman finished last year when he drove the car. "Roger told me before the race that Vegas is hard to win once," she said. "He warned me not to get my expectations up because we won here in the spring, but I just like this track."

In the Top Alcohol Dragster final, in a battle of the last two qualifiers, No. 7 Martin pedaled to a 5.85 at 250 mph after No. 8 Don St. Arnaud red-lighted by 16-thousandths of a second.

Martin and St. Arnaud had taken out the perennial favorites, third-ranked Chris Demke and newly crowned 2012 world champ Jim Whiteley, respectively, in consecutive pairs in round one. Demke's first-round loss settled his yearlong battle with Whiteley for the regional championship in Whiteley's favor, 351 points to 330. Martin survived a 5.72 when Demke got loose around mid-track and swiped the wall. St. Arnaud advanced with a strong 5.38, his best run of the weekend, when Whiteley spun the tires and slipped to a 5.56, about three-tenths off his 5.28 qualifying pace.

Sixteen cars going for eight spots made for a 5.42 bump, and all top-half qualifiers ran at least 5.30s. Whiteley was the only one in the .20s, and Joey Severance, outgoing world champ Duane Shields, and Chase Copeland surprisingly missed the cut.

In the semifinals, Martin benefited from the first of two red-lights against him, this one by Greg Hunter, who had cut a .016 light first round. That put him in his third final in just six starts all year; he was runner-up at Mission and Sonoma. St. Arnaud joined Martin in the money round with a holeshot on Phoenix winner Megan McKernan in the other semifinal match, 5.43 to 5.36. Needing a .009 light to advance, he pulled out a .005.

TAN

Demke, Whiteley Successful at Sonoma

Courtesy of the Pro Sportsman Association/Todd Veney

At the Western Region event in Sonoma, Calif., Winternationals and Gatornationals champion Chris Demke earned his first regional victory of the season in Top Alcohol Dragster and rookie Annie Whiteley her third in Top Alcohol Funny Car, both from the No. 1 qualifying spot.

Demke, shut out since his Gatornationals victory in March except for a Jegs Allstars win last month (which doesn't count for points), paced the field in qualifying with a 5.30 and in eliminations overcame the electrical gremlins that have plagued the team for weeks for his first win ever at Sonoma. "This team had won at every track in California – Pomona, Bakersfield, Sacramento, Palmdale, Fontana – except this one," he said.

Demke nearly remained winless at the picturesque facility in the wine country north of San Francisco but had just enough to take out Ray Martin in the final, 5.44 to 5.45. "The engine shut off and came back on twice on that run," said Demke, who survived a close one in which both drivers made their first runs out of the 5.30s all day.

Demke's engine shut off completely at the 5.2-second mark in round one, but he still coasted to a 5.39, 252 win over Bill Dunlap's one-of-a-kind, driver-forward car. A 5.33 in the semi's took care of past Winternationals runner-up Don St. Arnaud and set up a final-round match with Martin, who had qualified with a 5.40 and had run consistent times of 5.38 against Johnny Ahten and 5.39 against Joey Severance. Another run in that range would have been enough in the final, but Martin slipped to a 5.45. Demke was away first with a .068 light and won by half a car length with a 5.44.

"It seemed to shut off for a long time both times," Demke said. "I was saying, 'No, this can't be happening,' but it came back on both times. Now, that's disturbing – it feels like your head's going to hit the dashboard. It would have run another 5.30-something, no problem, if that hadn't happened, but it still ran just good enough to win."

Whiteley had no such problems, laying down the best runs of her young Top Alcohol Funny Car career in the semifinals and final. After qualifying No. 1 for a very fast field with a 5.62 and winning a tight first-round race with Clint Thompson, 5.62 to 5.63, Whiteley unloaded one of the great runs of all time in the semifinals, a track-record 5.508, against Steve Gasparrelli, who bowed out with an otherwise fine 5.65 at nearly 261 mph.

"They run a lot better when you hit your shifts," joked Whiteley, who considers Sonoma her favorite track. "Until that run, the car kept feeling like it was going to wash out on me, and I kept short-shifting. I told [crew chief Roger Bateman] that I didn't know why I couldn't get past that spot, and he said he didn't know either and suggested that we switch lanes. I had no idea that run was a 5.50. All I knew was that it was the smoothest run I made all weekend."

Whiteley stayed in the left lane for the final against Phoenix Regional winner John Lombardo Jr., who had been running low 5.60s all day. Lombardo, who had eliminated Keeter Ray in the first round and Shane Westerfield in the semi's with almost identical runs of 5.602 and 5.601, lost traction immediately and slowed to an 11.10 while Whiteley disappeared into the distance with a 5.53 – more than a half-tenth quicker than anyone else had run all weekend.

It was the third win of Whiteley's first full season behind the wheel of an Alcohol Funny Car and the first at which her husband, Top Alcohol Dragster points leader Jim Whiteley, didn't also score. "Las Vegas was special because it was my first win, and Tulsa was special because the final was my first full run at night and because Jim won right in front of me," Whiteley said. "This one was awesome because of that 5.50. Roger and the Strasburgs given me a phenomenal car."