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READING, Wednesday: The rain caused havoc at the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals. It started raining Sunday during the first-round of eliminations and the water falling from the sky has had control of the situation ever since. Tim Wilkerson's Levi, Ray & Shoup Impala SS Funny Car was hot and going rounds, so the Springfield, Ill. veteran sat in the rain, waiting for a chance to race.
In the first-round of eliminations on Sunday, Wilkerson was the second pair of Funny Cars, so he got to run. He made an impressive run of 4.786 seconds at 328.14 mph, putting his opponent, Gary Densham in the trailer. On Monday, the second round of eliminations was completed. Here Wilkerson was to face, the Ford Mustang driven by Robert Hight. But Hight bent his chassis on his previous run, and the team felt it wasn't safe to run. This gave Wilkerson a single. Knowing he automatically was advancing to the semi-finals, Wilkerson pulled his foot around 800 feet, since his early numbers were of the most importance to him. He still posted a respectable 4.878. The rain then ended the action, to be continued on Tuesday.
Tuesday also brought morning rain, which ended around noon. Then just as the teams were about to roll up to the starting line, at approximately 3:00 pm, the rain returned, again ending the day.
Wednesday dawned gray and overcast but there was no rain falling from the sky, so finally the racing was able to continue. In his second semi-final round appearance of the season, Wilkerson again faced off against a Team Force Ford. This time, it was the one driven by the boss himself, John Force. That's who was in the other lane in Wilkerson's last semi. And just as last time, Force got the win light. Wilkerson shook the tires early in the run, recovered, but trailed Force ever so slightly. Wilkerson ran 5.167 to Force's 4.929.
"I think the track was so strange today, because no one has run on it for two days," explained Wilkerson. "I watched all the cars, except Tony Pedregon do the same thing. Even Hot Rod Fuller's did the same thing. And John had the same problem, but his was further out. So, maybe I'll check around a little bit and see what the other crew chiefs think about that. Mine had it's boo-foo early and I got it gathered up, but then it dropped a hole and I shut it off early. I followed John down there. He was a little bit ahead of me, but not much. I just saw the front of his car.
"We're a little disappointed because we had a good car all weekend. This was the only run it didn't go down the track, so we're pretty happy with all that really. The car performed well and the guys did a good job. Obviously, the body now works well at the speeds were running. So, it's all good."
So, it appears that even sitting in the rain for three days, didn't dampen the spirits of the dedicated and talented Wilkerson. The sign of a true racer.
Wilkerson patiently waits out the rain to make his second semi-final of the year
READING, Wednesday: The rain caused havoc at the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals. It started raining Sunday during the first-round of eliminations and the water falling from the sky has had control of the situation ever since. Tim Wilkerson's Levi, Ray & Shoup Impala SS Funny Car was hot and going rounds, so the Springfield, Ill. veteran sat in the rain, waiting for a chance to race.
In the first-round of eliminations on Sunday, Wilkerson was the second pair of Funny Cars, so he got to run. He made an impressive run of 4.786 seconds at 328.14 mph, putting his opponent, Gary Densham in the trailer. On Monday, the second round of eliminations was completed. Here Wilkerson was to face, the Ford Mustang driven by Robert Hight. But Hight bent his chassis on his previous run, and the team felt it wasn't safe to run. This gave Wilkerson a single. Knowing he automatically was advancing to the semi-finals, Wilkerson pulled his foot around 800 feet, since his early numbers were of the most importance to him. He still posted a respectable 4.878. The rain then ended the action, to be continued on Tuesday.
Tuesday also brought morning rain, which ended around noon. Then just as the teams were about to roll up to the starting line, at approximately 3:00 pm, the rain returned, again ending the day.
Wednesday dawned gray and overcast but there was no rain falling from the sky, so finally the racing was able to continue. In his second semi-final round appearance of the season, Wilkerson again faced off against a Team Force Ford. This time, it was the one driven by the boss himself, John Force. That's who was in the other lane in Wilkerson's last semi. And just as last time, Force got the win light. Wilkerson shook the tires early in the run, recovered, but trailed Force ever so slightly. Wilkerson ran 5.167 to Force's 4.929.
"I think the track was so strange today, because no one has run on it for two days," explained Wilkerson. "I watched all the cars, except Tony Pedregon do the same thing. Even Hot Rod Fuller's did the same thing. And John had the same problem, but his was further out. So, maybe I'll check around a little bit and see what the other crew chiefs think about that. Mine had it's boo-foo early and I got it gathered up, but then it dropped a hole and I shut it off early. I followed John down there. He was a little bit ahead of me, but not much. I just saw the front of his car.
"We're a little disappointed because we had a good car all weekend. This was the only run it didn't go down the track, so we're pretty happy with all that really. The car performed well and the guys did a good job. Obviously, the body now works well at the speeds were running. So, it's all good."
So, it appears that even sitting in the rain for three days, didn't dampen the spirits of the dedicated and talented Wilkerson. The sign of a true racer.
