Demke Looking for Points and Redemption at Burndown at Sundown

JOLIET, IL – Top Alcohol Dragster driver Chris Demke enters the upcoming Burndown at Sundown NHRA regional event placed second in national points. A late-round finish this weekend could boost him to the top, ahead of blown alcohol rival Jim Whiteley. In addition to it being a points-earning race, Demke and the Maddern Racing team will use the opportunity to prepare for their Jegs Allstars title defense at the Route 66 Nationals at the end of June.

“It’s sort of a test session, but I’m not going to discount the importance of earning points for the regional event. We’ve struggled at regional events this year, so we want to add as many points as we can this weekend,” said Demke, who is fifth in West Region points after first round losses at the Firebird and Las Vegas regional events.

Past success at this event and facility has the excitable Demke even more enthused about racing his Peen Rite/Operational Solutions/801 Racing dragster at back-to-back events at Route 66 Raceway.

“I ran 5.26 during the last round of qualifying last year. The weather is supposed to be cool this weekend, so we hope to produce similar results. Furthermore, the track surface is always excellent at Route 66. We won the Jegs Allstars event in Top Alcohol Dragster at the Route 66 Nationals last year, so I’m confident in our data for this track,” Chris said.

With positive results also came not-so-positive results. An early exit at 2012’s Burndown at Sundown will be on Chris’ mind this weekend as he tries to avoid the mistake that cost him a shot at racing for the event title.

“We qualified #1 at this event last year but lost first round,” Chris recalls. “It was a combination of driver error and a tuned-down set-up. We got complacent with the competition. That’s not going to happen this year. We’re going to be aggressive in every round of competition.”

The Maddern Racing team will be racing with heavy hearts this weekend, as tuner Adam Rhoades lost his uncle Thursday morning before the event. Rhoades and the team are dedicating their efforts in his memory.

Top Alcohol Dragster qualifying begins at 4 PM on Friday, June 7 at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Illinois. The final two sessions at 4 and 8 PM Saturday will kick off the Burndown at Sundown shows. Top Alcohol eliminations begin Sunday at noon.