MORE POWER? BETTER SOUND? OF CORSA!
July 20, 2023
THE AUTO BUILDER
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Spotlighter
Remembering Chris Raschke: A Life Engineered for Speed
Honoring a pillar of the performance industry and a man who lived for the drive.
Author
The Auto Builder Staff
Images Courtesy of Speed Demon Racing
A Racer, A Builder, A Leader
The automotive and motorsports world lost one of its most dedicated champions on Sunday, August 3, 2025, when Chris Raschke tragically passed away following a crash at the Bonneville Salt Flats. He was 60 years old.
Chris was piloting Speed Demon III, built by legendary builder and long time friend Steve Watt and his team. During a record attempt his car went airborne at 283 mph near the 2.5-mile mark. Despite rapid response from medical teams, Chris succumbed to his injuries. The incident remains under investigation.
A Life Built Around Speed
Chris wasn’t just a driver—he was a lifer in motorsports. From sweeping the grandstands at Ventura Raceway as its first official employee to helping guide ARP, one of the most respected names in performance fasteners. Chris lived and breathed this industry.
He raced everything from ATC three-wheelers to Ford Pintos, T/Q midgets, and sprint cars—always balancing his time between turning wrenches and turning laps. His journey was marked by persistence, humility, and a tireless drive to learn. That blend of curiosity and grit would define every step of his career.
Learning from the Greats
In 1983, Chris began working for Duttweiler Automotive, where he was mentored by the legendary Kenny Duttweiler. There, he absorbed the fine points of fabrication, engine development, welding, and sourcing high-performance components. As Duttweiler Performance became a household name among go-fast enthusiasts, Chris’s fingerprints were on many of its innovations—from intercoolers and suspension pieces to marketing strategy.
It was also at Duttweiler’s shop that Chris built lasting friendships, including with Speed Demon builder and crew chief Steve Watt. That bond would eventually bring Chris into the heart of the Speed Demon team.
A Force at ARP
In 1996, Chris joined the team at ARP, where he would go on to become Director of Sales and Marketing. Much like his early days at the racetrack, Chris immersed himself in every aspect of the business—earning the trust of customers, partners, and racers alike. His encyclopedic knowledge of engines, race cars, and the motorsports ecosystem made him not just a spokesman for ARP, but one of its most powerful ambassadors.
To those across the industry, Chris wasn’t just “the ARP guy”—he was a connector. He understood how people, parts, and passion came together to build something greater than speed alone.
Living the Dream
Chris joined the Speed Demon team in the late ’90s and worked with racing legend George Poteet, a land-speed racer and car collector from the Memphis area who drove “over 400 mph more than 50 times,” according to the team. Poteet holds the current Bonneville Salt Flats land speed record at 470.733 mph, which he set in 2020 behind the wheel of the Chevy-powered Speed Demon 715 streamliner. Poteet passed away in July 2024.
After 13 years crewing with Speed Demon, Chris finally had his chance behind the wheel. Through licensing passes and record-setting runs in other vehicles, he proved himself capable of handling extreme speed with both focus and respect. Driving Speed Demon was the natural next chapter for someone who had spent a lifetime preparing for it.
A Lasting Legacy
Chris Raschke’s passing leaves a profound void—not only on the salt, but throughout the entire performance and motorsports industry. His fingerprints are on more than just cars and parts; they’re on relationships, reputations, and the evolution of an industry he helped shape from the inside out.
Whether behind a desk at ARP, turning wrenches in the pits, or strapping into a streamliner at over 400 mph, Chris showed us what it means to blend professionalism with passion. He was a bridge between builders, brands, and racers—someone who truly understood both the business and the soul of the automotive world.
Our Thoughts and Prayers
Our thoughts and prayers are with Chris’s wife Connie, family, and loved ones—as well as the entire ARP and Speed Demon teams, his colleagues, and the countless friends who had the privilege to race alongside him, work with him, or simply share stories over a pit lane handshake.
May the roar of the engines forever carry his memory.
Godspeed, Chris.
You will always be part of the drive.
