Column By: MIKE TRAVERSE / RPW – GREENVILLE, NY – Sometimes, a racer will suffer an injury that will cause him to miss many events and substantial time from behind the wheel.
One might think that a broken arm would be one of those types of injuries that would push a racer to the sidelines for an extended period.
But Braxton Dembek is a tough, gritty young racer who through a quick recovery, awesome family support, some well timed rainouts and a scheduled week off, ended up missing only one event.
And later in the season, he scored his first Junior Slingshot victory at Hamlin Speedway.
This 3rd generation racer is the son of one of the legends of local full fender racing, Tom Dembek. His grandfather, Andy Dembek, is one of the pioneers from when the Street Stock division got rolling in the early 80’s at the Orange County Fair Speedway. His uncle Andy was also a racer.
So it would have been hard for Braxton to avoid racing. But Braxton is one of those who had his interest piqued when he started attending races at OCFS. As far as watching racing on television, the interest was not so much.
“I didn’t like it so much when I first watched races on television,” Braxton said. “But once I went to OCFS, I really started to enjoy it.”
And after a trip to Dover and meeting Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Braxton was full bore into racing.
And on the dirt side, Braxton is a huge fan of Stewart Friesen and has joined in Victory Lane celebrations several times with the driver of the Halmar #44.
Braxton got his start in 2020 with the Junior Slingshots and scored a 15th place points finish, racing conservatively and getting the feel for his machine and the track. He earned a lot of respect for his abilities for a driver getting his first taste of racing. His clean driving was also impressive.
In early May, Braxton suffered his injury.
“I was wrestling with my brother on our trampoline and I broke my arm. I had to have surgery and three 8″ pins put in.”
Facing an extended period on the sidelines, it appeared that the 10 year old racer would completely fall off the points chart. But with the rainouts and a scheduled week off, Braxton only missed one race.
Returning 3 weeks later and still in a cast, Braxton climbed into the #68 to take a few laps to help protect his points position. The team plan went away once Braxton got going. He recovered from being spun to finish 9th.
On July 31st, Braxton won his heat and lined up 2nd for the feature. After falling back to 5th at the start, he started his charge. He worked his way back to 2nd and even though he was a straightaway behind, he made his charge. At the checkers, it was Braxton taking his first win in his 15th start.
His overall season statistics were quite good. He finished 5th in points with the one win, 6 top five’s and 12 top ten’s in 14 events. A very impressive season for someone racing through an injury.
Braxton’s style is not to try to charge too hard at the start of a feature. Heat races are a different story.
“With the format at Hamlin, you have to get a good finish in the heat to get to draw for the feature. You have to be aggressive. In the feature, I like to feel things out before I try to make a charge.”
At nearly every event, Braxton was near the top of the lap charts. In fact, he recorded the fastest Junior Slingshot lap of the 2021 season at Hamlin.
As far as 2022, the team’s goal is of course to win some races. And a top 3 point finish is a goal the team has in mind.
“We would like to contend for the championship, but realistically, that may not be a goal that’s attainable. But we think a top 3 point finish is possible,” said Tom Dembek.
The team has a large group of sponsors. And one of them has a very long association with the Dembek team.
“Interstate Batteries of Goshen (Jeff Desharnais) first started with my Uncle Andy in 1997. And now 25 years later, they are still with us with Braxton. We appreciate all that they and our other sponsors do for us, thank you,” said Tom.
Besides Interstate Batteries, other sponsors on the #68 include TRC Auto (Highland, NY), Comfort Experts (Florida, NY), Messco Building Supplies (Walden, NY), Big Tows (Chestnut Ridge, NY), Beach Works (Milton, De), DM Bath and Kitchen (Wappingers Falls, NY), Signs and Graphics By Lenny, 1 888 44 Stuck Towing (Orangeburg, NY), Jack’s Lawn Care and Landscaping (West Nyack, NY), American Remodeling, Lube Squad (Rockaway, NJ) and Crackers Motorsports Marketing LLC.
After a few more seasons of sharpening his skills, look for Braxton to move up into a Sportsman class.
It’s great family support that Braxton receives from his dad Tom, his mom Heather and brother Brayden. The Dembeks are a great family that has a long history of involvement with local motorsports. Tom has done some very nice things for my family on several occasions. With Braxton fully recovered and ready to go, look for great things from this driver in 2022.