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BRISTOL, Saturday: With qualifying set at the O’Reilly Thunder Valley Nationals, Tim Wilkerson is headed into race day action in a good position. His Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevrolet Impala SS is the fourth quickest Funny Car at beautiful Bristol Dragway and that gives Wilkerson and his team a feeling of accomplishment. Granted the Springfield, Ill. favorite and his crew would have liked to make four strong runs, but the three good ones they did make shows that they still have the hot rod to beat.
Today’s first qualifying attempt was Wilkerson worst of the weekend at only 5.066 at 265.59 mph. But Wilkerson ran into problems around half-track and had to pull his foot early. In the last session, he made his third strong run, posting 4.871 at 308.14. He ended this run just a little early because he felt something and didn’t want to hurt the motor. But Wilkerson’s runs today were pretty good, as many of his competitors struggled, and kept him in the No. 4 qualifying spot that he captured last night.
“It dropped a cylinder early on our first run,” explained Wilkerson, “and it was beating itself up so I got out of it. On our second pass, it was on a pretty good run but I thought I felt it drop a cylinder near the end, so I pulled my foot. I figured that it wasn’t worth hurting any parts because I knew I was in the show.
“We’re feeling good about how the car is running this weekend. Just because we’re not the No. 1 qualifier doesn’t mean we’re struggling. We did just what we set out to and that’s qualify. Now we just need to go rounds tomorrow.”
Qualifying in the top half of the field will give Wilkerson lane choice in the first-round of eliminations tomorrow, when he faces long-time friend, Gary Densham. Densham struggled this weekend and didn’t get into the show until the last session today. But Wilkerson knows that he cannot take Densham lightly and that he needs to be ready for battle.
“First-round is always so critical,” said Wilkerson, “and just because you qualify well doesn’t give you any guarantees. I know Gary had troubles in qualifying but he made a nice pass tonight, so we know we can’t take him lightly tomorrow morning. We just have to keep our heads on straight and worry about what we’re doing, not the other guy. And perhaps with a little luck we can win some rounds and maybe even more.”
Wilkerson holds onto the No. 4 qualifying position
BRISTOL, Saturday: With qualifying set at the O’Reilly Thunder Valley Nationals, Tim Wilkerson is headed into race day action in a good position. His Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevrolet Impala SS is the fourth quickest Funny Car at beautiful Bristol Dragway and that gives Wilkerson and his team a feeling of accomplishment. Granted the Springfield, Ill. favorite and his crew would have liked to make four strong runs, but the three good ones they did make shows that they still have the hot rod to beat.
Today’s first qualifying attempt was Wilkerson worst of the weekend at only 5.066 at 265.59 mph. But Wilkerson ran into problems around half-track and had to pull his foot early. In the last session, he made his third strong run, posting 4.871 at 308.14. He ended this run just a little early because he felt something and didn’t want to hurt the motor. But Wilkerson’s runs today were pretty good, as many of his competitors struggled, and kept him in the No. 4 qualifying spot that he captured last night.
“It dropped a cylinder early on our first run,” explained Wilkerson, “and it was beating itself up so I got out of it. On our second pass, it was on a pretty good run but I thought I felt it drop a cylinder near the end, so I pulled my foot. I figured that it wasn’t worth hurting any parts because I knew I was in the show.
“We’re feeling good about how the car is running this weekend. Just because we’re not the No. 1 qualifier doesn’t mean we’re struggling. We did just what we set out to and that’s qualify. Now we just need to go rounds tomorrow.”
Qualifying in the top half of the field will give Wilkerson lane choice in the first-round of eliminations tomorrow, when he faces long-time friend, Gary Densham. Densham struggled this weekend and didn’t get into the show until the last session today. But Wilkerson knows that he cannot take Densham lightly and that he needs to be ready for battle.
“First-round is always so critical,” said Wilkerson, “and just because you qualify well doesn’t give you any guarantees. I know Gary had troubles in qualifying but he made a nice pass tonight, so we know we can’t take him lightly tomorrow morning. We just have to keep our heads on straight and worry about what we’re doing, not the other guy. And perhaps with a little luck we can win some rounds and maybe even more.”
