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READING, Prerace: The next stop on the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series tour is the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Penn. Funny Car pro, Tim Wilkerson has a mission for this race. He is looking to get his Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevrolet Impala SS to run better. And even though he had some quick times and monster speeds last week in Brainerd, Wilkerson is looking to get his hot rod to run in the high 70's.
"We need to try to make our car run better in Reading," sad Wilkerson. "Hopefully we can figure out how to make it run a high 70, like the other guys are running. Right now we're a hundredth off, so we want to figure that out. That's were we need to be in order to have success. And we need to continue to fine-tune our fuel system so we can keep running the big mph."
The NHRA usually rolls into the Pennsylvania Dutch Country in the in the early fall just as the leaves are beginning to change colors. But with the race moved to August, the weather will be different. Hot and humid conditions will add a challenge to tuner Wilkerson's already difficult job. But the 2003 Funny Car winner understands that the air at the racing facility is an asset to making his 8,000 horsepower hot rod perform at it's best. He just hopes he will still have that air on his side.
"The hot temperatures and high humidity are going to affect our tuning decisions," explained Wilkerson. "We've never run here in the summer, so it's going to throw a monkey wrench at our data. But we did okay last week in Brainerd in similar conditions, so with a little luck we can improve like we want and have a good weekend."
Wilkerson on Maple Grove mission
READING, Prerace: The next stop on the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series tour is the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Penn. Funny Car pro, Tim Wilkerson has a mission for this race. He is looking to get his Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevrolet Impala SS to run better. And even though he had some quick times and monster speeds last week in Brainerd, Wilkerson is looking to get his hot rod to run in the high 70's.
"We need to try to make our car run better in Reading," sad Wilkerson. "Hopefully we can figure out how to make it run a high 70, like the other guys are running. Right now we're a hundredth off, so we want to figure that out. That's were we need to be in order to have success. And we need to continue to fine-tune our fuel system so we can keep running the big mph."
The NHRA usually rolls into the Pennsylvania Dutch Country in the in the early fall just as the leaves are beginning to change colors. But with the race moved to August, the weather will be different. Hot and humid conditions will add a challenge to tuner Wilkerson's already difficult job. But the 2003 Funny Car winner understands that the air at the racing facility is an asset to making his 8,000 horsepower hot rod perform at it's best. He just hopes he will still have that air on his side.
"The hot temperatures and high humidity are going to affect our tuning decisions," explained Wilkerson. "We've never run here in the summer, so it's going to throw a monkey wrench at our data. But we did okay last week in Brainerd in similar conditions, so with a little luck we can improve like we want and have a good weekend."
