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SEATTLE, Saturday: Seattle is known to be a rainy city and it held true to form this weekend. Yesterday there was no racing due to the rain and today the rain ended racing action early at the Schuck's Auto Supply NHRA Nationals at Pacific Raceways. The professional classes completed only one round of qualifying today. Tim Wilkerson made a good run in his Levi, Ray & Shoup Impala SS Funny Car, posting a 4.968, which put him in the No. 14 position.
But Wilkerson's good-fortune changed quickly and his qualifying position was taken away. NHRA has provisions for when only one round of qualifying is completed, and it's called the Top 10 rule. If there are any Top 10 drivers not qualified, they are put into the program, placed in the bottom of the field. Unfortunately for Wilkerson, there were three Top 10 drivers not qualified, so his No. 14 spot was not secure.
"The rules are the rules," said Wilkerson, "there's not much we can do about it. We made a nice run today. It should have been better but we hit a big bump and it threw the blower belt off. We certainly would have liked another chance to improve. It certainly goes to show you how important one run can be and how important it is to be in the top 10.
"The worse thing about it is that we lose out on our qualifying money and points. But we have to live by the rules. So, we'll just have to wait until next week to do better."
Wilkerson sidelined by a rain rule
SEATTLE, Saturday: Seattle is known to be a rainy city and it held true to form this weekend. Yesterday there was no racing due to the rain and today the rain ended racing action early at the Schuck's Auto Supply NHRA Nationals at Pacific Raceways. The professional classes completed only one round of qualifying today. Tim Wilkerson made a good run in his Levi, Ray & Shoup Impala SS Funny Car, posting a 4.968, which put him in the No. 14 position.
But Wilkerson's good-fortune changed quickly and his qualifying position was taken away. NHRA has provisions for when only one round of qualifying is completed, and it's called the Top 10 rule. If there are any Top 10 drivers not qualified, they are put into the program, placed in the bottom of the field. Unfortunately for Wilkerson, there were three Top 10 drivers not qualified, so his No. 14 spot was not secure.
"The rules are the rules," said Wilkerson, "there's not much we can do about it. We made a nice run today. It should have been better but we hit a big bump and it threw the blower belt off. We certainly would have liked another chance to improve. It certainly goes to show you how important one run can be and how important it is to be in the top 10.
"The worse thing about it is that we lose out on our qualifying money and points. But we have to live by the rules. So, we'll just have to wait until next week to do better."
