[coverattach=1]SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (January 12, 2009) -- CompetitionPlus.com, a popular website devoted to the sport of drag racing, recently concluded on-line fan voting for its 10th annual "Dot Com Awards" and Tim Wilkerson was clearly the star, becoming the first double-winner in the poll's history. The Levi, Ray & Shoup Funny Car driver swept the "Professional Driver of the Year" and the "Mike Aiello Person of the Year" categories to add a new exclamation point to what was an enormously successful 2008 NHRA season.
Named in honor of the late Mike Aiello, the "Person of the Year" award was created to recognize the legacy of one of the sport's most devoted and popular figures, who was a fan at heart but also a former crew member and CompetitionPlus contributor. Aiello was confined to a wheelchair after a workplace accident left him paralyzed from the waist down, but his indomitable spirit was well-known throughout the sport, and he was considered a friend by countless pro and sportsman racers. He passed away in late 2006, at the age of 39.
Despite competing against 15 other candidates in the voting, Wilkerson won in a veritable landslide, far outdistancing the other individuals. In the Aiello award voting, Wilkerson actually out-polled all of the other candidates by such a wide margin their combined total barely matched his individual tally, while only one other person received more than 10 percent of the vote.
The fact the "Professional Driver of the Year" voting was slightly tighter was not surprising, with Wilkerson squaring off against a huge slate of drag racing's most elite and successful performers, including NHRA World Champions Tony Schumacher, Jeg Coughlin Jr., Cruz Pedregon, and Eddie Krawiec. The final results tilted squarely Wilkerson's way, however, and once again illustrated his "fan favorite" position in the sport.
More details and quotes from Tim Wilkerson are available here:
Drag Racing Internet Magazine - Competition Plus.com - WILKERSON DOMINATES DOT COMS
Named in honor of the late Mike Aiello, the "Person of the Year" award was created to recognize the legacy of one of the sport's most devoted and popular figures, who was a fan at heart but also a former crew member and CompetitionPlus contributor. Aiello was confined to a wheelchair after a workplace accident left him paralyzed from the waist down, but his indomitable spirit was well-known throughout the sport, and he was considered a friend by countless pro and sportsman racers. He passed away in late 2006, at the age of 39.
Despite competing against 15 other candidates in the voting, Wilkerson won in a veritable landslide, far outdistancing the other individuals. In the Aiello award voting, Wilkerson actually out-polled all of the other candidates by such a wide margin their combined total barely matched his individual tally, while only one other person received more than 10 percent of the vote.
The fact the "Professional Driver of the Year" voting was slightly tighter was not surprising, with Wilkerson squaring off against a huge slate of drag racing's most elite and successful performers, including NHRA World Champions Tony Schumacher, Jeg Coughlin Jr., Cruz Pedregon, and Eddie Krawiec. The final results tilted squarely Wilkerson's way, however, and once again illustrated his "fan favorite" position in the sport.
More details and quotes from Tim Wilkerson are available here:
Drag Racing Internet Magazine - Competition Plus.com - WILKERSON DOMINATES DOT COMS
