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LAS VEGAS, Saturday: Funny Car pro, Tim Wilkerson took the No. 1 qualifying spot on yesterday’s first pass and held onto it until late in the day today at the SummitRacing.com Nationals. Wilkerson lost it to Robert Hight by a thousandth of a second. But since the No. 1 qualified Funny Car has never won at this race, having his Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevrolet Impala SS sitting the No. 2 spot, might play right into Wilkerson’s hand.
On today’s first run, Wilkerson ran 4.955 at 299.93 mph. It was the third quickest run of the session and the quickest in the right lane. It was good enough to keep him in the top spot. Then as conditions improved, Wilkerson went out for his last attempt, but smoked the tires at the hit and coasted across the finish line at 11.697 at 80.15 mph.
“We’re pretty happy with today,” said Wilkerson. “We didn’t hurt anything and that’s always a relief. On our first pass, the right lane was a mess, so we were pleased that we got down it. Then on the last pass, I put some clutch on it after I saw Robert run, and that was the wrong thing to do. We just tried too hard.
“We had a new blower on today, and a new clutch. The blower’s a little too strong, so we’re going to have to weaken it a little. But we’ll put the old stuff that we’re familiar with back on for tomorrow.”
Wilkerson will have lane choice over the fifteenth qualifier, Jim Head in the first-round of eliminations.
“The track is going to be even trickier tomorrow,” said Wilkerson. “If it’s in the 90’s, it’s going to be ugly out there. It will be survival of the fittest. Having lane choice over Jim will an advantage, but we won’t take him lightly. Hopefully all goes well, but we have no way of knowing until we try. We just hope we can do a good job and go some rounds.”
Wilkerson lands in the No. 2 position
LAS VEGAS, Saturday: Funny Car pro, Tim Wilkerson took the No. 1 qualifying spot on yesterday’s first pass and held onto it until late in the day today at the SummitRacing.com Nationals. Wilkerson lost it to Robert Hight by a thousandth of a second. But since the No. 1 qualified Funny Car has never won at this race, having his Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevrolet Impala SS sitting the No. 2 spot, might play right into Wilkerson’s hand.
On today’s first run, Wilkerson ran 4.955 at 299.93 mph. It was the third quickest run of the session and the quickest in the right lane. It was good enough to keep him in the top spot. Then as conditions improved, Wilkerson went out for his last attempt, but smoked the tires at the hit and coasted across the finish line at 11.697 at 80.15 mph.
“We’re pretty happy with today,” said Wilkerson. “We didn’t hurt anything and that’s always a relief. On our first pass, the right lane was a mess, so we were pleased that we got down it. Then on the last pass, I put some clutch on it after I saw Robert run, and that was the wrong thing to do. We just tried too hard.
“We had a new blower on today, and a new clutch. The blower’s a little too strong, so we’re going to have to weaken it a little. But we’ll put the old stuff that we’re familiar with back on for tomorrow.”
Wilkerson will have lane choice over the fifteenth qualifier, Jim Head in the first-round of eliminations.
“The track is going to be even trickier tomorrow,” said Wilkerson. “If it’s in the 90’s, it’s going to be ugly out there. It will be survival of the fittest. Having lane choice over Jim will an advantage, but we won’t take him lightly. Hopefully all goes well, but we have no way of knowing until we try. We just hope we can do a good job and go some rounds.”
