Don Marks from Conception to the Winner's Circle
Top Dragster racer Don Marks had a vision at the 2006 Snowbird Nationals in Bradenton, Florida. He wanted to race with a supercharged combination. After burning some pistons and not being able to compete, he was done with his nitrous oxide engines and was looking forward to a change.
Parked next to him was a fellow Top Dragster competitor that was running a supercharged combination. This team had recently hired the services of DMPE inc. to assist them in the basics and point them in the proper direction. That team proceeded to run their career best times and only a fuel leak kept them from going rounds on race day.
Marks took notice of the situation and started conversations with Jon Salemi of DMPE Inc. By the end of the weekend, Marks had a complete plan in order and was looking forward to the beginning of the upcoming season. Marks stated, “ I got with Jon and let him know the budget I had to work with and he went to town finding me both used and new parts. By mid February my team had most everything we needed and started putting all the pieces together. I contracted Jon to come down for a test session and we made 3 runs and I was set to go for the year. It was actually quite painless”!
Marks, who is an accomplished CEO of Badcock Furniture, races only a couple of times year. He opened his season at Rockingham for IHRA and on his first full lap ran 6.25 @ 221 mph. That qualified him #2 for the event, which he then lost in the opening round as a transbrake malfunction caused a red light. Summer passed and the team did a couple of Outlaw 1/8 mile races and set track records for dragsters and ran well. The team then prepared for the Fall IHRA Rockingham race and bettered their 6.25 with a 6.12 @ 226 mph to qualify #2 and went a couple of rounds in competition.
As the 1 year mark approached from when the team decided to switch power adders, it would be only a dream to go out and win the Automatic Outlaw class at the Snowbirds and Don Marks did just that. With a qualifying run of 6.14 @ 224 Mph, he tore through the field with reaction times between .026 and .035 and ran between 6.18 and 6.14 on all runs and claimed the trophy. Don said, “Man this car is just flat on. It’s hard to beat a consistent car. Hats off to my guys Tim and Tony. Without their help this still would just be a dream. Thanks to Darren and Jon at DMPE Inc. They have made this look easy for us”.
Doug Horween runs 6.82 @ 208.67 
Florida Street Car racer Doug Horween powers to a 6.82 @ 208.67 mph run with his DMPE inc. prepared Dart 360 headed Chevy engine. Doug plans to attend the Darrel Gwynn Memorial Car show in Lighthouse Point, Florida on January, 5 2008. Doug and his crew are also planning to attend the US Street Nationals in Bradenton, Florida in late January. Doug will compete in Outlaw Pro Street. Hats off to Doug and his crew for a job well done and continued success in the upcoming 2008 season.
Stawicki Runs 5.97 at Rockingham
Veteran Pro Mod racer Mike Stawicki had a successful weekend at the IHRA World Finals in Rockingham, North Carolina this past weekend. Stawicki along with team partner Jim Salemi, owner of G-Force Race Cars Inc., have had a trying 2007 season. This weekend placed all of the misfortunes behind them. Stawicki says, “I have a lot of great people that support me on this team. Jim Salemi gives me the best ride around. G-Force Race Cars just flat out work. This car really hauls the mail. I also have to thank Darren Mayer from DMPE Inc. Our supercharger is the best out there. We have had an up and down year and to make it to the semi’s today will give us a breath of fresh air we needed for the off-season.”
Stawicki posted a tire shaking back pedaling 6.31 during Friday night qualifying but kept him in the show for the time being. Saturday morning began to show the fruits of labor as the team posted a 6.09 to place them in the 6th spot. Heading into the final qualifying session, Stawicki blazed the track with a 5.97 @ 233 mph. What was most impressive was the front half incremental’s. A .976 60 ft time led to a 2.59 330 ft time which posted a 3.90 @ 188 mph 1/8 mile time. Crew Chief Jim Salemi stated, “We have been working for this since Indy. It’s not easy when a new power gain is found. You have to learn to get it to the track. It’s all about the combination. I need to make some more runs to get our fuel system correct to match the power curve. I’m confident that we can run with the best in Pro Mod”.
Stawicki’s car was also planted on Mickey Thompson tires. Jon Salemi exclaims, “Carl Robinson of Mickey Thompson tires has been a great friend of ours for a long time. He provided us with a set of tires and we said, ‘now seems like a good time to try them out’ and obviously they are everything he told us they would be. It’s the beginning of a new era for us to try to achieve exposure for a great company and a great individual like Carl. Hats of to everyone at M/T”.
Stawicki’s day in eliminations started with a win but a problem plagued 6.27, but then posted Low ET for round 2 with a 6.05 win. In the semi final round Stawicki fell to tire shake and watched Kenny Lang speed by for the win. It was the end of an exciting weekend
Mike and his team thank everyone for there support during the 2007 season especially, Mom and Dad, John Cage, and Patricia Moyer.
Stawicki Racing would like to thank the following companies and people for their continued support: Darren Mayer & DMPE Inc, Stawicki Used Cars, Isolation Systems, Strange Engineering, Weld Racing, NGK Spark Plugs, Mastin Engineering, Hot Rods by Burke, Cynergy Composites, Scott Jahren Paint, Vici Promotions, and 1320 Web Services.
Picture courtesy of competionplus.com
Some Pics around the Shop
Here Company President, Darren Mayer is machining some Prototype DMPE test products. Darren is always battling the odds and is driven to succeed through challenges.
Here Bryan Dietz overhauls a new K-11 14-71 supercharger. Bryan heads the overhaul and repair department and manages the shop. Dietz also handles all the shipping and receiving.
This is Lynda Mayer responsible for all things in the office. If it is answering phones, billing or ordering, Lynda will take care of all your needs.
Here is Don Mayer, doing what he does best, machining. Don, a recently retired machinst, helps out around the shop with all the machining projects.
This is Jon Salemi, a retired rocker from New York. Jon now heads DMPE's sales and tech department as well as being the track representative for DMPE.
