Column By: MIKE TRAVERSE / RPW – GREENVILLE, NY – The Dembek name has been around the local racing scene for more than 40 years.
It started with Andy Dembek and then was continued by his sons Andy and Tom.
At 12 years of age, 3rd generation racer Braxton Dembek has already accumulated a few years of experience. The son of OCFS Pro Stock and Street Stock Champion Tom Dembek, it certainly looks like the Dembek name will be active in the sport for the foreseeable future.
For the 2024 season, the Dembek team is planning for Braxton to race in the All Star Slingshots at Accord Speedway on Friday’s and Glen Ridge on Sunday’s. One of the things they like about racing Accord is that there is much less travel time.
And if things progress well, he may get some warmup time in a Sportsman later this year.
Braxton got his start at Hamlin in 2020 and it was a good learning experience for the young driver as he got some much needed track time. It was during the 2021 season that showed how much grit and determination that he had.
Braxton suffered a broken arm while wrestling with his brother and it required surgery that required pins to stabilize the injury.
With a series of rainouts and a scheduled night off, Braxton only missed one race and was still in a cast when he returned to action.
And a couple of weeks later, he was standing proud in Hamlin’s Victory Lane with his first career win. It was his most memorable moment in racing thus far.
“For this year at both tracks, I want to be competitive, stay out of trouble, maybe get some wins and if the opportunity presents itself, go for a championship,” Braxton said.
As a young driver and with the Dembek team new to the world of slingshots, they were glad to receive some advice and tips from a top team.
“When we went to Glen Ridge, we didn’t know much about the track. The Albreada’s, AJ, Rob and Robbie showed us everything from their notebooks,” said Tom Dembek. “Our second week there, they brought us some tires to use. It was awesome for them to do that for us.”
For 2024, the team has two Slingshots and a spare engine ready for competition, one set up for each track. It’s what the family team does, but it does increase the amount of maintenance the cars need.
“Besides the weekly maintenance, every other week, the car becomes mostly taken apart,” Tom says. “If you don’t check things out, you could be racing with bent parts and we don’t want him out there racing like that.”
And though he likes his time in the Slingshots, this young talent is looking ahead to possibly moving up in his racing endeavors.
“Later in the season, we might be able to test out a Sportsman, maybe some hot laps,” Braxton said.
“He’s got a couple of offers to try one out, so we’ll see how it goes,” Tom said. “We almost bought one. But I don’t think he’s quite ready for that yet. But it will be good to see him get some laps in one later this season.”
As with most short track racers, Braxton enjoys the competition, the family aspect with his dad, his Mom Heather and brother Brayden, and all the friendships that the group makes in racing.
In his spare time, Braxton is a fan of the New York Mets. On the national level, he met Ricky Stenhouse a few years ago, so he roots very hard for him. On the local level, he’s a fan of Corey Cormier.
Sponsors for the Dembek team in 2024 include Interstate Batteries (Goshen, NY), Messco Building Supply (Walden, NY), Big Tows Inc (Chestnut Ridge, NY), McCarey’s Landscaping (Middletown, NY) TRC Auto (Highland, NY), 1 888 44 Stuck (Nanuet, NY), American Remodeling Inc. (Goshen, NY), Comfort Experts (Florida, NY), Genforce Power Inc. (Monsey, NY), Beach Works (Milton, DE), F&A Concrete (Port Jervis, NY), Low Tor Quick Lube (Haverstraw, NY), America 1 Construction (Milford, PA), Crackers Motorsports LLC (Blauvelt, NY) and Yaboo Fence Company (West Nyack, NY).
The Dembek’s are one of the very nice families in racing and Braxton has shown the talent and determination needed to be a very successful racer. Wishing the team all the best for 2024.