Maddern Racing
Demke Pads Points Lead with Columbus Regional Win
HEBRON, OH – NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster national points leader Chris Demke added a second regional event win to his 2014 
scorecard last weekend when he won the Buckeye Fuel Wars race. Racing at National Trail Raceway near Columbus, Demke qualified No. 1 and scored the win to extend his points lead to almost one hundred points over Joey Severance. The win was the third in a stretch of races that included four events spread out between Montana and Ohio.
Demke put the Peen Rite/OSI/Boost Performance Products dragster in the top spot during Friday’s opening qualifying session, running 5.358 at 270 MPH. Saturday rain showers forced the cancellation of one session, leaving teams with a final evening session. Few teams improved and the few that did improve didn’t run better than 5.358, so the Maddern Racing team elected to skip the run.
Demke Reaches Semifinals at First Norwalk Appearance
NORWALK, OH – A semifinal finish at one of the toughest races of the season, the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals, puts 
Chris Demke at the top of the Top Alcohol Dragster national points standings. A close race against another stout blown alcohol competitor ended Chris’ day in the penultimate round, but the upbeat Californian driver is still content with his recent performance.
Demke qualified the Peen Rite/OSI/Boost Performance Products dragster in the No. 5 spot, running 5.413, 5.344, and 5.434 in the Midwest heat. The Jerry Maddern-owned entry continued to perform in the low 5.4-to-5.3 range as eliminations began on Saturday with a 5.349 first round win over a tire-smoking Dan Page.
Demke Enters Summit Nationals with Momentum from Route 66 Nationals Win
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.
Billings Regional Victory has Demke Primed for Route 66 Nationals Weekend
BILLINGS, MT – Chris Demke is leaving Yellowstone Dragstrip with another Wally, as he claimed the NHRA West Region event title 
over Joey Severance on Sunday night. The win was Demke’s second Billings victory and the third for his Maddern Racing team. Securing their second win of the season was a helpful morale boost as the California team heads east for the Route 66 Nationals and Jegs Allstars race in Chicago.
Demke and the Peen Rite/OSI/Boost Performance Products blown alcohol dragster swept the Billings event, qualifying No. 1 with a 5.48 and winning the final round with a quicker 5.45 over Ynot Racing driver Joey Severance. While the win on-track was certainly important, Demke is also happy about the small victories in the mechanical department.
“With Topeka and Billings, that’s two weekends in a row where we haven’t hurt parts. We aren’t out of the woods yet, but that’s a good sign that we have a handle on the parts attrition issue that was affecting the team earlier in the season,” Chris said, giving credit to his team owner. “I have to hand it to Jerry Maddern; he’s the glue that holds this team together. Without him we wouldn’t be out here having all of this fun. We had some tough times earlier in the season, but Jerry’s patience and perseverance have put us back on what appears to be the right track.”
Demke is Back in Billings for NHRA Regional’s Return to Yellowstone
BILLINGS, MT – As the NHRA West Region series returns to Yellowstone Dragstrip this weekend, June 20-22, Chris Demke and the Maddern Racing Top Alcohol Dragster team will receive another chance to take home a Wally from the Montana track. The NHRA Northwest Division Lucas Oil Regionals will also provide Demke with valuable seat time before next weekend’s Jegs Allstars race.
Yellowstone Dragstrip has played an important part in the history of California-based Maddern Racing. Demke won the divisional race ten years ago, followed by another big win, as Chris explains.
Demke Optimistic After Topeka Return
TOPEKA, KS – Top Alcohol Dragster standout Chris Demke is glad to be back in the seat of his Peen Rite/OSI/Boost Performance Products entry after nearly two months off. Demke’s Maddern Racing team used the NHRA Kansas Nationals as a meter for their off-time improvements. A top-half qualifying effort and strong first round win have Demke and his team excited as they head into the summer races.
Persistent rain storms and on-track delays took away two of the scheduled TAD qualifying sessions, leaving Maddern Racing crew chief/team owner Jerry Maddern and tuner Adam Rhoades with just one run to work with going into eliminations. A 5.398/268 MPH lap during Friday’s session ranked Chris seventh, giving him lane choice over first round opponent Chase Copeland.
Demke Back in Action at Kansas Nationals
TOPEKA, KS – Chris Demke and his Maddern Racing Top Alcohol Dragster team return to competition at the NHRA Kansas 
Nationals this weekend after a short hiatus. The Californian group hasn’t raced since the Las Vegas races in late March, taking time off to troubleshoot issues in the car’s performance.
“We finished our humble pie and went through the car with a fine-toothed comb. We have a pretty good feeling that we found the issue but you never know until the car has gone down the track a couple of times. I’m cautiously optimistic. The rest of the team and I are very excited to get back to racing,” Demke commented.
Chris and the Peen Rite/OSI/Boost Performance Products team have mixed feelings about racing at Heartland Park Topeka. Demke has reached the final round here four times in the past – as recently as last year – but he has yet to make it to the Topeka winner’s circle.
Demke and Maddern Racing Team Humbled by Vegas Second Round Loss
LAS VEGAS, NV – Another Vegas early exit was not what Chris Demke and his Maddern Racing team mates were looking for when 
they returned to The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Racing at the NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals, Demke qualified No. 3 with a satisfying 5.328/269 MPH, but his Peen Rite Top Alcohol Dragster was back on the trailer after the second round of eliminations.
“The weekend started good. Our plan for the weekend was to start running low thirties again. Our tune-up for the car worked great for the first round of qualifying. We were quite pleased with that first run. Things went downhill from there. It was a combination of tune-up and technical issues,” Chris said.
Demke Going Back to Basics at SummitRacing.com Nationals
LAS VEGAS, NV – Chris Demke and his Maddern Racing team will enter this weekend’s NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals with a more humble approach after they suffered a first round exit at the recent Vegas regional race. The event raised a lot of questions for the California group, questions they want to answer this weekend.
“We just never seemed to get a handle on things. The tune-up was either weak or overly aggressive. I only made it down the track one time without shaking and that was with all of the knobs turned way back. First round I had to race Don St. Arnaud, a great competitor. He beat me on a holeshot. Our E.T.s were separated by just a few thousandths of a second. If I didn’t need to pedal through tire shake we probably could’ve won the round. This just tests our resolve, but we’ll get through it,” Chris said optimistically.
Demke Returning to Vegas Following Gainesville Early Exit
LAS VEGAS, NV – Maddern Racing driver Chris Demke returns to the west coast this week following a so-so showing at the NHRA 
Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla. The Californian team struggled through qualifying and suffered a second round loss to rival blown alcohol team Ynot Racing and driver Mike Strasburg.
Demke dealt with traction issues on all three qualifying runs, eventually salvaging a 5.351/270 MPH run in the final session to qualify seventh. Tuner Adam Rhoades had the Peen Rite/OSI/Boost Performance Products dragster tuned up for Chris’ first round race with Jared Dreher. Chris ran 5.284 over Jared’s 5.364. He was unable to repeat on Sunday, running 5.395 in a losing effort to Mike Strasburg’s 5.277.
“We just couldn’t see the forest through the trees. We had better air, making more power, we just overestimated the track. We overpowered the track three times in a row. We were too confident. The computer was telling us every time what needed to happen, and we just weren’t seeing it,” Chris said, adding, “We weren’t accepting the fact that the track wasn’t good enough. The evidence was in the Pro qualifying results. John Force, who did very well at the first two races, struggled to qualify. That says volumes right there; those guys were having the same problem.”
