The Sportsman Report

Fletcher’s Magic Number is 61

By Jeff Burk
Photos by Ron Lewis

n Lucas Oil Sportsman racing at the Seattle NHRA Northwest Nationals, A/FD driver Courtney Force won the T/AD class, became the youngest Force ever to win a coveted “Wally” (at 21 years of age) and with the help of the Force Racing PR army grabbed the lion’s share of the headlines. But the racer that really deserves the headline isn’t Courtney Force, it is established doorslammer star, and shoe-in for the hall-of-fame if he ever retires, Dan Fletcher.

Fletcher just celebrated his 61st birthday by winning his 61st Wally at Denver and has made it to the sportsman winner’s circle at three of the last four NHRA national events with wins in Comp (Englishtown), Stock (Denver) and Super Stock (Seattle).

During a first-round victory over Doug Hegge from Vancouver, Wash., the Jerry Maddern Racing blown Top Alcohol Dragster with Chris Demke (above) driving suffered what could be best described as a “nuclear meltdown” of their PSI supercharger as they crossed the finish line. Unfortunately the Sunland, Calif.-based team did not have a spare in their arsenal.

“We got back to the pits, looked at what was left of the blower and were ready to fold our hand and head home,” said Demke, a three-time NHRA Division 7 Top Alcohol Dragster Champion. “Then, while they were still in competition, Mike and Doug Gordon (who campaign a very competitive Top Alcohol Funny Car in NHRA Division 7) graciously offered to loan us their spare supercharger.”

The Maddern Racing team thrashed all night to prepare their rail for a round two match-up against Ashley Bart. During the burnout, team clutch specialist Adam Rhoades noticed an intense fuel leak coming from a fuel line attached to the recently replaced supercharger. After searching for a rag and coming up empty, Rhoades literally ripped the shirt off his back in order to sop up the excess fuel and repair the leak. The repair worked, as Demke laid down a solid 5.391-second elapsed time at 262.54 miles per hour to defeat Bart.

Demke then defeated Brandon Johnson’s A/Fuel Dragster in the semi-finals to advance to a final round once again. In the final it was Force taking the win with a 5.440/257.83 to Demke’s 5.508/218.87.