[coverattach=1]Tim Wilkerson only made one full under-power lap on Sunday in Phoenix, and even that run was fraught with anxiety after an air regulator appeared to malfunction before magically fixing itself, but in the end the Levi, Ray & Shoup driver advanced to the semi-finals by out-pedaling his first two opponents to take his first two round wins on the season. It was clearly a case of making the absolute most out of what you have to work with, and Wilkerson supplied the skill to pull it off. For a driver who had to suffer through a fluke DNQ at the season's first race, the trip to the final four in Phoenix was a sweet sip of success.
In summary, Wilkerson's Phoenix race was far more of a "learning experience" than anything else, as a series of gremlins presented problems, which were then addressed and fixed, while Sunday turned into "one of those days" the likes of which never seem to come along often enough. Although he suffered through tire smoke in the first two rounds, Wilkerson took out a pair of big hitters by pedaling his way past John Force and Jack Beckman, and then nearly gave up before the fight in the semi-final when the management-box air regulator read zero before the burnout, but was back to good health upon the car's return to the starting line. With Mike Neff powering to a strong 4.080 in the right lane, Wilkerson's soft but still viable 4.187 wasn't enough for a trip to the finals.
"Well, I think there's probably a fixed amount of things that can go wrong on one of these cars, and we're checking them off the list at a pretty good clip, so that's good," Wilkerson said. "We sorted through some issues that about killed us on Friday, got better on Saturday, and got by a few big guys today without running all that well, but even those first two rounds were something we learned from. You just don't get to the semi-finals this way very often, but there's no such thing as an ugly win. Every team out here has run great and lost, plenty of times, so you take the wins any way you can get them."
Although it would never be his nature to give himself the credit, Wilkerson's driving ability was clearly the key asset in the first two rounds, as he expertly pedaled the car to take the wins while his opponents also struggled with traction. The crew chief wins some races, while the driver earns a few as well, so the two round wins in Phoenix went to Wilkerson the driver, while Wilkerson the crew chief continued to check off those problems, find the solutions, and make headway with a new race car.
"There's a learning curve here, for sure, and we're learning a lot," Wilkerson (crew chief and driver) said. "This new chassis reacts a lot differently than my old car, so we have to find what works for it and not try to force it to do things it doesn't want to do. And, like any new car, house, or boat, there are things that just aren't right and you don't know what those problems are until they show up. Like I said, we checked a lot of those boxes off the list this weekend, and we got to win a couple of rounds while we're learned, so you can't really beat that. I want it to all be as good as it can be, but if we can pick up some rounds while we get it all sorted out, that's a pretty good deal."
To get to his fortunate Sunday, Wilkerson had to battle an under-performing car on Friday, fix that issue, and then come through in the clutch by posting a strong 4.148 during Saturday's first session. Tire smoke during Q4 left Wilkerson sitting 14th, but in the field, and compared to the alternative that's never a truly bad thing.
Sunday morning featured the exact same opponent Wilkerson faced the last time he competed on Sunday, as John Force lined up next to the LRS Shelby Mustang in a replay of Wilkerson's final lap in 2008. Although the LRS team was unaware of the issue, Force's day was most likely over before he ever staged the car, as a fuel leak left a puddle of nitromethane directly in front of the rear slicks. When Force hit the throttle, his lap was over, while Wilkerson powered off the line and made it nearly to the 330-foot mark before tire spin set in. Not being sure if Force was right next to him, or far behind, the LRS driver masterfully pedaled his mount and kept it in its lane to take the win light with a 4.808.
In round two, Beckman was the opposition after he pounded out a huge 4.075 to defeat Tony Pedregon in the opener, and Wilkerson again knew he'd have his hands full with a fast opponent. Getting a slight edge at the tree helped, and powering cleanly to half-track didn't hurt, as Wilkerson pulled away while Beckman attempted to settle his bucking bronco of a machine. Two laps, two pedal efforts, and two wins.
In the semi-final, Wilkerson and his team seemed to cure the ills they had survived in rounds one and two, but they were also not willing to throw the dice at a home-run tune-up against the powerful Neff.
"We had it a bit soft, and the problem with the regulator definitely played a part in how the clutch reacted, but the goal was still to give them a full run and make them beat us. We were able to do that, but the other guy was pretty quick and if everything was equal we probably weren't going to beat his 4.08. Like I said, you don't argue or apologize, you just move on when you win and learn from it when you lose. Our guys worked hard all day, and we got to the finish line before the other guy during the first two laps, so we'll take it. As tough as this sport is, you have to take everything you can get your hands on, and we'll all take these two rounds and head to Gainesville with them in the win-column."
As the gremlins are found and exterminated, and as all the issuesf v are checked off and fixed, the next one of "those days" may be last a little longer, with better results. Next stop: Gainesville, on March 12-15.
In summary, Wilkerson's Phoenix race was far more of a "learning experience" than anything else, as a series of gremlins presented problems, which were then addressed and fixed, while Sunday turned into "one of those days" the likes of which never seem to come along often enough. Although he suffered through tire smoke in the first two rounds, Wilkerson took out a pair of big hitters by pedaling his way past John Force and Jack Beckman, and then nearly gave up before the fight in the semi-final when the management-box air regulator read zero before the burnout, but was back to good health upon the car's return to the starting line. With Mike Neff powering to a strong 4.080 in the right lane, Wilkerson's soft but still viable 4.187 wasn't enough for a trip to the finals.
"Well, I think there's probably a fixed amount of things that can go wrong on one of these cars, and we're checking them off the list at a pretty good clip, so that's good," Wilkerson said. "We sorted through some issues that about killed us on Friday, got better on Saturday, and got by a few big guys today without running all that well, but even those first two rounds were something we learned from. You just don't get to the semi-finals this way very often, but there's no such thing as an ugly win. Every team out here has run great and lost, plenty of times, so you take the wins any way you can get them."
Although it would never be his nature to give himself the credit, Wilkerson's driving ability was clearly the key asset in the first two rounds, as he expertly pedaled the car to take the wins while his opponents also struggled with traction. The crew chief wins some races, while the driver earns a few as well, so the two round wins in Phoenix went to Wilkerson the driver, while Wilkerson the crew chief continued to check off those problems, find the solutions, and make headway with a new race car.
"There's a learning curve here, for sure, and we're learning a lot," Wilkerson (crew chief and driver) said. "This new chassis reacts a lot differently than my old car, so we have to find what works for it and not try to force it to do things it doesn't want to do. And, like any new car, house, or boat, there are things that just aren't right and you don't know what those problems are until they show up. Like I said, we checked a lot of those boxes off the list this weekend, and we got to win a couple of rounds while we're learned, so you can't really beat that. I want it to all be as good as it can be, but if we can pick up some rounds while we get it all sorted out, that's a pretty good deal."
To get to his fortunate Sunday, Wilkerson had to battle an under-performing car on Friday, fix that issue, and then come through in the clutch by posting a strong 4.148 during Saturday's first session. Tire smoke during Q4 left Wilkerson sitting 14th, but in the field, and compared to the alternative that's never a truly bad thing.
Sunday morning featured the exact same opponent Wilkerson faced the last time he competed on Sunday, as John Force lined up next to the LRS Shelby Mustang in a replay of Wilkerson's final lap in 2008. Although the LRS team was unaware of the issue, Force's day was most likely over before he ever staged the car, as a fuel leak left a puddle of nitromethane directly in front of the rear slicks. When Force hit the throttle, his lap was over, while Wilkerson powered off the line and made it nearly to the 330-foot mark before tire spin set in. Not being sure if Force was right next to him, or far behind, the LRS driver masterfully pedaled his mount and kept it in its lane to take the win light with a 4.808.
In round two, Beckman was the opposition after he pounded out a huge 4.075 to defeat Tony Pedregon in the opener, and Wilkerson again knew he'd have his hands full with a fast opponent. Getting a slight edge at the tree helped, and powering cleanly to half-track didn't hurt, as Wilkerson pulled away while Beckman attempted to settle his bucking bronco of a machine. Two laps, two pedal efforts, and two wins.
In the semi-final, Wilkerson and his team seemed to cure the ills they had survived in rounds one and two, but they were also not willing to throw the dice at a home-run tune-up against the powerful Neff.
"We had it a bit soft, and the problem with the regulator definitely played a part in how the clutch reacted, but the goal was still to give them a full run and make them beat us. We were able to do that, but the other guy was pretty quick and if everything was equal we probably weren't going to beat his 4.08. Like I said, you don't argue or apologize, you just move on when you win and learn from it when you lose. Our guys worked hard all day, and we got to the finish line before the other guy during the first two laps, so we'll take it. As tough as this sport is, you have to take everything you can get your hands on, and we'll all take these two rounds and head to Gainesville with them in the win-column."
As the gremlins are found and exterminated, and as all the issuesf v are checked off and fixed, the next one of "those days" may be last a little longer, with better results. Next stop: Gainesville, on March 12-15.
