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Memphis, Tenn.: Life is full of firsts that are milestones, our first birthday, our first day of school, our first kiss. 18-year-old college student, Dan Wilkerson celebrated a first today, and it will be forever etched in his memory. He won his first race in his beautiful Levi, Ray & Shoup Top Alcohol Funny Car, at the NHRA Lucas Oil event, the Mid-South Sportsman Championships presented by TCI, at Memphis Motorsports Park.
But a win from this second-generation racer was to be expected. When you have Funny Car pro, Tim Wilkerson as your dad and Top Alcohol Funny Car expert, Fred Mandoline as your crew chief, a win was in the making.
"I can't put into words, how I feel," expressed a jubilant Wilkerson, "it's that cool. I saw my win light go on when I went by and my heart started pounding about 400 times a second. I got out of the car and was jumping up and down with the Lucas Oil guys in the shut down area. When they handed me the Wally, I was speechless. This is so cool. It's just a bummer that dad and Fred weren't here to celebrate. Dad had to go home last night, and we ran so late that Fred had to catch a plane before final-round. But Fred had the car tuned-up before he left, and then he called me later to see how the track was. I had dad on a cell phone in one hand and Fred on a cell phone in the other hand, and the three of us were deciding on how to tune the car."
Wilkerson qualified No. 2 with a career-best, 5.677 at 255.24 mph. In the first-round of action, he took out Ron Morrison with a 5.761 at 252.66 mph. In the second round, he lucked out and had a bye, when his opponent Kebin Kinsley couldn't make the call. Then in the final-round Wilkerson faced the No. 1 qualifier, Steve Harker. But Harker's 6.285 was no match for Wilk's 5.894 at 251.91 mph.
"When I woke up this morning, I felt we had a good shot at winning this race," said Wilkerson. "The first-round went exactly as we planned. In the next round, we had a bye. We should have run better, but I think I short shifted. In the final, we got lucky. We had it tuned-up too much and it started rattling the tires in the top half of first gear. I shifted but it didn't clear up, so I pedaled it slightly. I did a Tim Wilkerson pedal job, and it worked.
"I want to thank my mom and dad and Fred. I also want to thank my team, Nick Shirley, Joe Endzelis, Ronnie Boyd and Mark Benson. I couldn't have done this without them, and I wouldn't want to. We really needed this after the struggles we had at the Gatornationals."
The next stop for the Top Alcohol Wilkerson Team is the upcoming NHRA POWERade Series event, the O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park, and Wilkerson is going there on a high note.
"I feel good about Houston," said Wilkerson. "Our tires are junk, because they sat on the car all winter and that's not good for them. So, we'll have a new set of hoops for Houston, and if we get a good race track, we might be a contender."
But in the meantime, Wilkerson will savor the thrill of his first win, and more than likely still have a big grin on his face tomorrow, when he returns to the classroom.
Wilkerson scores first win
Memphis, Tenn.: Life is full of firsts that are milestones, our first birthday, our first day of school, our first kiss. 18-year-old college student, Dan Wilkerson celebrated a first today, and it will be forever etched in his memory. He won his first race in his beautiful Levi, Ray & Shoup Top Alcohol Funny Car, at the NHRA Lucas Oil event, the Mid-South Sportsman Championships presented by TCI, at Memphis Motorsports Park.
But a win from this second-generation racer was to be expected. When you have Funny Car pro, Tim Wilkerson as your dad and Top Alcohol Funny Car expert, Fred Mandoline as your crew chief, a win was in the making.
"I can't put into words, how I feel," expressed a jubilant Wilkerson, "it's that cool. I saw my win light go on when I went by and my heart started pounding about 400 times a second. I got out of the car and was jumping up and down with the Lucas Oil guys in the shut down area. When they handed me the Wally, I was speechless. This is so cool. It's just a bummer that dad and Fred weren't here to celebrate. Dad had to go home last night, and we ran so late that Fred had to catch a plane before final-round. But Fred had the car tuned-up before he left, and then he called me later to see how the track was. I had dad on a cell phone in one hand and Fred on a cell phone in the other hand, and the three of us were deciding on how to tune the car."
Wilkerson qualified No. 2 with a career-best, 5.677 at 255.24 mph. In the first-round of action, he took out Ron Morrison with a 5.761 at 252.66 mph. In the second round, he lucked out and had a bye, when his opponent Kebin Kinsley couldn't make the call. Then in the final-round Wilkerson faced the No. 1 qualifier, Steve Harker. But Harker's 6.285 was no match for Wilk's 5.894 at 251.91 mph.
"When I woke up this morning, I felt we had a good shot at winning this race," said Wilkerson. "The first-round went exactly as we planned. In the next round, we had a bye. We should have run better, but I think I short shifted. In the final, we got lucky. We had it tuned-up too much and it started rattling the tires in the top half of first gear. I shifted but it didn't clear up, so I pedaled it slightly. I did a Tim Wilkerson pedal job, and it worked.
"I want to thank my mom and dad and Fred. I also want to thank my team, Nick Shirley, Joe Endzelis, Ronnie Boyd and Mark Benson. I couldn't have done this without them, and I wouldn't want to. We really needed this after the struggles we had at the Gatornationals."
The next stop for the Top Alcohol Wilkerson Team is the upcoming NHRA POWERade Series event, the O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park, and Wilkerson is going there on a high note.
"I feel good about Houston," said Wilkerson. "Our tires are junk, because they sat on the car all winter and that's not good for them. So, we'll have a new set of hoops for Houston, and if we get a good race track, we might be a contender."
But in the meantime, Wilkerson will savor the thrill of his first win, and more than likely still have a big grin on his face tomorrow, when he returns to the classroom.
