"When you get overconfident, that's when something snaps up and bites you."
The thoughts of legendary NASA astronaut Neil Armstrong sum up the mind set of the Jerry Maddern
Racing Top Alcohol Dragster team, as they head into this weekend's NHRA Northwest Nationals held at
Pacific Raceways in Kent, Wash.
After a lack-luster performance in Fallon, Nev. at the NHRA Division 7 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series
event last month, the Sunland, Calif. based team is hoping a slice of humble pie will provide the
fuel required to capture the first NHRA National Event 'Wally' for their driver, Chris Demke.
"We literally walked into that place thinking we owned it and that philosophy wound up biting us
bad," commented the three-time Division 7 Top Alcohol Dragster champion Demke. "We are pretty
humbled after the self induced butt kicking we had last month at the Division 7 race in Fallon. We
all need to focus and get back to basics this weekend in Seattle."
The 'basics' Demke mentioned is the way the Maddern tuned Top Alcohol Dragster began the 2009
season. The team came out of the box in dominating fashion, reaching four-consecutive final rounds.
And the team's 5.270-second elapsed time recorded in the semi-final round at the opening race of
the season stands as the quickest elapsed time for a Blown Alcohol Dragster this year.
Gremlins, parts failure and some simple bad luck the team has encountered recently, have slightly
de-railed the freight train known as the Peen-Rite sponsored Top Alcohol Dragster. Demke, as well
as team crew chief and owner Jerry Maddern, are confident they can place their 471 cubic-inch Brad
Anderson Engineering Hemi powered dragster back on track.
"We lost Ludwig, (the name the team gave their primary engine) in Chicago and have not got it back
from Brad Andersons shop," stated Demke. "But, we've got "Conan" between the rails and "Gigantor"
on stand-by so we should be ready to fly this weekend."
The team affectionately known as 'the circus clowns' enter this weekend's event tied with Justin
Davis for the seventh position in the NHRA Lucas Oil National Championship Points Standings.
The Top Alcohol Dragster category will have three opportunities to qualify for the 16-car field
beginning on Friday, July 17th at 1:30pm.
Eliminations are scheduled to begin after the final professional qualifying session on Saturday
evening.
You can follow the progress of the Jerry Maddern Racing Top Alcohol Dragster with up to the minute
race-results posted at http://www.dragracecentral.com
