Wilkerson looks for changes to support his performance
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DENVER, Prerace: The 29th annual Mopar Mile-High Nationals is a milestone in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing season. It marks the start of the second-half of the 24 race season and the start of the famed three race Western Swing. Carved out of the side of a mountain, Bandimere Speedway’s 5,860-foot elevation provides breathtaking scenery while presenting a literally breathtaking situation for both man and machine. But independent Funny Car racer, Tim Wilkerson is ready to face the upcoming challenges with a special confidence that comes with his the impressive performance he is experiencing this year. Wilkerson and his talented team have the distinction of making the Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevrolet Impala SS the meanest hot rod on the circuit. For the first time in his Funny Car career, Wilkerson is No. 1 in points and is slowly increasing his lead race by race.
“It really feels good to head into Denver for the start of the Western Swing as the point leader,” expressed Wilkerson. “But we don’t want to get cocky and do ourselves in. We hope we can carry our good performance with us into the Swing. We’re planning to take what we know and keep using it to our advantage. We’re feeling confident that we’ll be able to do just that. But Denver is tough. We’ve done well here with a couple of No. 1 qualifiers, but the past few years, we’ve struggled. So, we want to make sure we go back to our good ways. We just can’t lose focus on our goal of taking each race in two phases, first phase is to qualify and the second is to go rounds. That’s what we’ve been trying to do all year and it seems to be working.”
Besides the tuning challenges that Denver presents, there are three new mandatory changes that the teams have to contend with starting this weekend. The first and most controversial is the change in the length of the racing distance. Due to the tragic and untimely death of Scott Kalitta a few weeks ago in Englishtown, the NHRA has shortened the racing distance for the nitro classes from the famed quarter-mile to 1,000 feet.
Wilkerson welcomes the change.
“I can see so many positives and not a single negative in shortening the track,” explained Wilkerson. “I know a lot of fans don’t like the idea but I really don’t think it’s going to affect the show. We’re still going to run over 300 mph and it will be a better show. When you think about it, it’s after 1,000 feet that all the stupid stuff happens. There will be less tire spinning and less oil downs. In Norwalk, on every good pass I dropped cylinders at the top end. Just think we won’t be beating our motors into junk. I don’t think there will be a bad side in our performance. I think it will make for a better show and that’s what we’re here for.”
The second change which the Funny Car’s are facing is that they must run a different chassis with mandatory safety updates. Some of the teams have had their chassis for some time and have been running them already. Wilk has not been one of those lucky teams, but was able to try out his new chassis for the first time at a match race in Eddyville, Iowa this past weekend.
“Our new chassis is nice,” said Wilkerson. “It’s not going to be an issue. I am glad that we got to try it out in Eddyville because we did have to make some adjustments. The steering was off, so we had to straighten it out and the gas pedal is different from my past ones and we had to make some adjustments so that I was comfortable with it.”
The last change is a new Goodyear tire. Wilkerson tested the tire earlier this year in Gainesville and welcomes the change.
“I don't see the new tire being a problem,” explained Wilkerson. “Goodyear is dedicated to making our sport safer and I applaud them for doing so. Our tires used to be made by hand, but are now being made on a machine. And I think that by taking the human factor out of the equation, we will have an overall safer, more consistent tire. And that too is good for the sport.
“So overall, we’re looking forward to Denver and the Western Swing. I know it’s demanding and we are faced with many new challenges, but I know that my guys and I are up the challenges and are ready to keep doing what we’ve been doing so far this year. Hopefully, we’ll emerge from this grueling battle still in the front of the pack.”
<img src="http://www.nitromater.com/gallery/files/5/t_wilkerson.jpg" alt="t_wilkerson" align="left"borders="0"/>
DENVER, Prerace: The 29th annual Mopar Mile-High Nationals is a milestone in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing season. It marks the start of the second-half of the 24 race season and the start of the famed three race Western Swing. Carved out of the side of a mountain, Bandimere Speedway’s 5,860-foot elevation provides breathtaking scenery while presenting a literally breathtaking situation for both man and machine. But independent Funny Car racer, Tim Wilkerson is ready to face the upcoming challenges with a special confidence that comes with his the impressive performance he is experiencing this year. Wilkerson and his talented team have the distinction of making the Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevrolet Impala SS the meanest hot rod on the circuit. For the first time in his Funny Car career, Wilkerson is No. 1 in points and is slowly increasing his lead race by race.
“It really feels good to head into Denver for the start of the Western Swing as the point leader,” expressed Wilkerson. “But we don’t want to get cocky and do ourselves in. We hope we can carry our good performance with us into the Swing. We’re planning to take what we know and keep using it to our advantage. We’re feeling confident that we’ll be able to do just that. But Denver is tough. We’ve done well here with a couple of No. 1 qualifiers, but the past few years, we’ve struggled. So, we want to make sure we go back to our good ways. We just can’t lose focus on our goal of taking each race in two phases, first phase is to qualify and the second is to go rounds. That’s what we’ve been trying to do all year and it seems to be working.”
Besides the tuning challenges that Denver presents, there are three new mandatory changes that the teams have to contend with starting this weekend. The first and most controversial is the change in the length of the racing distance. Due to the tragic and untimely death of Scott Kalitta a few weeks ago in Englishtown, the NHRA has shortened the racing distance for the nitro classes from the famed quarter-mile to 1,000 feet.
Wilkerson welcomes the change.
“I can see so many positives and not a single negative in shortening the track,” explained Wilkerson. “I know a lot of fans don’t like the idea but I really don’t think it’s going to affect the show. We’re still going to run over 300 mph and it will be a better show. When you think about it, it’s after 1,000 feet that all the stupid stuff happens. There will be less tire spinning and less oil downs. In Norwalk, on every good pass I dropped cylinders at the top end. Just think we won’t be beating our motors into junk. I don’t think there will be a bad side in our performance. I think it will make for a better show and that’s what we’re here for.”
The second change which the Funny Car’s are facing is that they must run a different chassis with mandatory safety updates. Some of the teams have had their chassis for some time and have been running them already. Wilk has not been one of those lucky teams, but was able to try out his new chassis for the first time at a match race in Eddyville, Iowa this past weekend.
“Our new chassis is nice,” said Wilkerson. “It’s not going to be an issue. I am glad that we got to try it out in Eddyville because we did have to make some adjustments. The steering was off, so we had to straighten it out and the gas pedal is different from my past ones and we had to make some adjustments so that I was comfortable with it.”
The last change is a new Goodyear tire. Wilkerson tested the tire earlier this year in Gainesville and welcomes the change.
“I don't see the new tire being a problem,” explained Wilkerson. “Goodyear is dedicated to making our sport safer and I applaud them for doing so. Our tires used to be made by hand, but are now being made on a machine. And I think that by taking the human factor out of the equation, we will have an overall safer, more consistent tire. And that too is good for the sport.
“So overall, we’re looking forward to Denver and the Western Swing. I know it’s demanding and we are faced with many new challenges, but I know that my guys and I are up the challenges and are ready to keep doing what we’ve been doing so far this year. Hopefully, we’ll emerge from this grueling battle still in the front of the pack.”
