Demke's Season Ends in Second Round at Pomona

Demke's Season Ends in Second Round at Pomona

POMONA, Calif. (November 14) – A second round loss at the AAA Finals at Auto Club Raceway was definitely not what Chris Demke had in mind when he envisioned the final race of his 2013 season. The popular Top Alcohol Dragster driver isn't used to early round losses, as he has reached the finals at six of his ten national event starts this season. With the points situation already played out, Demke and his Peen Rite team took the chance to test new ideas for next season.

“I would've liked to go out with a bang rather than a whimper, but you can't win them all. We had second place in national points locked up and we couldn't go around Jim (Whiteley) for the championship. We took the opportunity to test some things. It's not often that you get to test on a high-quality track like Pomona. This team is always trying to win, even in test mode, but it just wasn't in the cards,” Chris claimed.

Chris drove the Peen Rite/OSI/Boost Performance Products dragster to the No. 5 qualifying spot (5.29) before defeating 2011 national champion Duane Shields in the opening round, 5.30 to 5.43. Demke's car slowed slightly in the next round, enough for Garrett Bateman to get the 5.30 to 5.33 round win.

Demke's 2013 season began when the Maddern Racing team acquired a decade-old chassis similar to the one Chris drove to multiple wins in 2012. Despite its age, the car had few runs on it and the Peen Rite team had no data for the car. The car showed promise immediately, reaching the finals at the season-opening Pomona and Las Vegas national events. While successful at times, the team struggled with 'new car blues' when it came to the money round.

“Our inability to convert final rounds into wins kept us from winning the championship. Part of that was learning the new chassis, but there were other mistakes made as well, driver and mechanical. We're working on that part of the program as well. We'll see the result in 2014

“We tried a lot of changes this year, trying to get a handle on the new chassis. I won't know until we start making runs next year, but I think we've made a change that should be beneficial for quicker E.T.s,” Demke said.

Chris also reflected on the highlights of the season, citing his Jegs Allstars runner-up/Route 66 Nationals win at Chicago as one of the best weekends of the year.

“Winning Chicago was really cool. We came so close to doubling up. It would've been great to get that bonus, but maybe next year. I'm currently leading Jegs Allstars points in the West Region. Hopefully we can continue that lead and make it out to Chicago again next year.

“Overall, it was a fun year. It was bittersweet in that we lost a lot of finals. However, we won a lot of rounds and I'm proud of our guys for that,” added the driver of the Peen Rite/OSI/Boost Performance Products blown alcohol dragster.

Chris and the rest of the Jerry Maddern-owned team will enjoy a few months away from the track before the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series starts up again at Pomona in February.

Maddern Racing, celebrating 20 years of competition in 2013, is a family-owned and operated NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster team based in Southern California. The Chris Demke-driven Peen Rite/OSI/Boost Performance Products dragster is owned by Jerry Maddern and crewed by Adam Rhoades, Kevin Watson, Mike Demke, and Ron Mann. For more information on Maddern Racing, please visit www.MaddernRacing.com.

Maddern Racing receives support from the following companies: Peen Rite Inc., Operational Solutions Inc., Boost Performance Products, Boninfante Friction Inc., and Hoosier Racing Tire.