New Car for Defending Winternationals Champ Demke

Courtesy of NVW Motorsports Promotion

POMONA, CA – Defending Winternationals Top Alcohol Dragster champion Chris Demke returns to the Pomona fairgrounds this weekend with a car that most fans won’t recognize. His team isn’t quite familiar with it yet, either. The fan-favorite group recently acquired a lightly used rail similar to the one he drove to the NHRA Finals victory last year.

“It’s not brand new; it’s a 2002 Uyehara that was only campaigned for about half a season by its previous owner. He stored it away and took good care of it until (team owner) Jerry Maddern purchased it last year. We didn’t start working on it until the offseason. My crew guy, Kevin Watson, has poured his heart and soul into doing the work and Jerry really spared no expense in outfitting it. It’s a real beautiful piece. I have to commend those guys for the fabulous job they did assembling the car,” said Demke.

The new car showed promise during last weekend’s test session at The Strip in Las Vegas.

“Though it is a Uyehara chassis like we’ve always used, it has its subtle differences. We felt we should do some testing to iron out any gremlins that may have resulted from putting together a fresh car. Sure enough, the weekend wasn’t without its issues. It took us five runs to get the car to the finish line. There were some ignition problems and a fuel leak, but in the end ran a nice 5.38. That had everyone satisfied and gave us confidence heading into Pomona,” said the California native.

Pomona is a familiar and favorable place for Demke and the Peen Rite/OSI/801 Racing team. Chris won the Winternationals last year, starting off a tour that he concluded with four national event wins, including the season-ending Finals here. The season ended with an exclamation point, as Demke’s final round pass was the second-quickest run for an alcohol-burning dragster ever. Now with a fresh car, a restocked supply of parts, and a re-energized crew, Demke is ready to add more Wally’s to the team’s trophy case. And maybe if they play their cards right, they can bring home the big Wally at the end of the season.

Top Alcohol Dragster qualifying at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals begins Thursday afternoon around 1:15 pm. Two more qualifying sessions are scheduled for Friday at 12:30 pm and 3:30 pm. Eliminations begin Saturday afternoon and continue on Sunday.