While Chris Demke sat strapped in his Top Alcohol Dragster Sunday afternoon he was mentally preparing himself for his semifinal bye run down the right lane during the NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Wash.

Demke had no idea what an emotional whirlwind he was about to go through.

As Demke sat in the right staging lanes, he watched fellow competitor Mark Niver, who also was in the right lane, beat Shawn Cowie with a 5.364-second pass at 271.79 mph.

While Chris Demke sat strapped in his Top Alcohol Dragster Sunday afternoon he was mentally preparing himself for his semifinal bye run down the right lane during the NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Wash.

Demke had no idea what an emotional whirlwind he was about to go through.

As Demke sat in the right staging lanes, he watched fellow competitor Mark Niver, who also was in the right lane, beat Shawn Cowie with a 5.364-second pass at 271.79 mph.

It was the last pass Niver would ever make. Niver died when his dragster crashed into the safety net at the end of the Pacific Raceways track. The impact buckled the chassis into the driver cockpit.

Niver, 60, a 30-year NHRA veteran, was fatally injured in the crash.

“When you’re strapped in a car, you’re sitting very low so you can’t really see what’s going on very well because all of the crew of the cars in front of you are standing on the starting line,” the 46-year-old Demke said. “I saw Niver’s crew jumping up and down because he won and I heard the announcer state Mark Niver won. Then I hear the announcer state there was a problem with the parachutes and I see a cloud of brown dust off in the distance. I sat in the car for a bit and an official came by and told me she was waiting for word from the top end to see how long the clean up was going to be. I’ve seen many cars go into the sand traps and the drivers walked away with no problem. We kept waiting for word from the tower that he was OK, but the longer you wait and you don’t hear anything, the odds increase rapidly there was a potential severe problem. We all kind of knew the longer the wait went on, it was a bad sign.”

When Demke did receive word of Niver’s death he was stunned.

“It was a shocking tragedy,” Demke said. “You never want to hear of anybody getting hurt or dying. Mark in particular was just one of the nicest guys out there. He was always willing to help out and he always had a smile. He never had anything bad to say about anybody. Drag racing is a family, especially in the alcohol category. Everybody knows everybody and we’re all pretty much friends. Losing Mark was like losing a member of your family and it was so unexpected. He was such a well-respected guy.”

The King County Sheriff's Department, ruling the facility a crime scene, suspended all racing activities for about an hour and a half, pending an investigation. However, it permitted racing to finish and extended the 5:30 p.m. noise curfew to 7 p.m.

After racing resumed, Demke went to the starting line for his semifinal solo run.

“I just rolled up to the tree and took a green light and shut the motor off,” Demke said. “That gave me the win in the semis and out of respect for him (Niver), that’s why I didn’t make a full pass. After that, I talked with the NHRA officials, and they said I had the option to come back and make a run in the final if I like, but I did not have to. They could declare me the winner based on the semifinal victory. Once again, out of respect for the (Niver) family and the circumstance, we declined the option to come back and make a pass in the final round. I wanted Mark to be the last Top Alcohol Dragster driver to take the win light on Sunday.”

Demke also paid his respects by dedicating his race win to the Niver family.

“I went and got the trophy from the (NHRA) officials, and we didn’t do any victory celebrating or pictures or anything like that,” Demke said. “Then, my crew and I went over and presented Mark’s team with the trophy. That was very, very emotional.”

Demke, who has been driving in the Top Alcohol Dragster ranks since 2002, admittedly has yet to come to grips with the tragedy that unfolded right in front of his eyes.

“I think I’m still numb to it,” said Demke, who resides in Sunland, Calif., a suburb of Los Angeles. “It is not even 24 hours yet (since it happened). I’m certainly trying to digest this myriad of emotions and intense pain. It is very surreal. I’m sure the reality of all this is not going to hit me for another day or so.”

Demke says his next race will be the Division 7 event at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., July 23-25. And, the safety of drivers is once again a hot topic.

“I was in discussion with Mike Austin (a fellow Top Alcohol Dragster driver) Monday, and were talking about the set up of the sand trap,” Demke said. “You know, it’s a fine line between safety and cost, but what’s the cost of losing somebody like Mark Niver? Of course, every driver who straps into a car knows the risk. You hope everything has been taken care of and you’re not going to be the guy who gets bit by a freak occurrence. I crashed at Sonoma in 2005, and I don’t even remember my crash. I woke up in a hospital a couple of days later while they were pulling tubes out of my throat.

"I understand the need for safety completely, but at the same time I realize people are going to race and that’s how it’s going to be. I know the risk when I get in, and I know Mark knew that as well, and he died doing what he loved most.”