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BRISTOL, Saturday: Springfield, Ill. Funny Car favorite, Tim Wilkerson has been optimistic about the performance of his Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevrolet Impala SS this year. And was able to show he was right about his hot rod in qualifying at the O'Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals. Wilkerson has the quickest Funny Car at Bristol Dragway and even though he had a problem-plagued day, no Funny Car was able to bounce out his run from last night. So, Wilkerson's 4.819 E.T. held firm for the No. 1 qualifying spot.
Wilkerson was on a good run for today's first qualifying session, but his left-side header pipe broke, which in turn put out two cylinders. Wilkerson heard the noise, then felt one cylinder drop, then the other, so he shut off the car. He crossed the finish line with a 5.053 at 279.21. He was then looking for a good run in the last session, but unfortunately was turned off at the starting line. He had an engine leak and it was too dangerous for him to make the run.
"Maybe we're getting all our bad luck out of the way today," said Wilkerson. "On our first run a header pipe broke off on it and it ended up putting a hole out. Then on our second run a stupid valve cover nut was loose. It was a simple, simple mistake. I guess we're human, that's all. The guys couldn't see it leaking and I couldn't see it, so we were going to run. But as I pulled up to the light and stopped, it really made a puddle. I saw Rick (the starter) waving at me out of the corner of my eye and I thought I'd better shut off before he gets mad at me. I deserved to be shut-off. I could have run over John Force (in the other lane) or something else really ugly. I really wanted that last run to give me some data for tomorrow.
"I half expected somebody to step up today and knock us down. When Ron Capps went out there in the first session and ran a 4.86, I thought things were going to get ugly. But the track stayed hot enough and we got to stay on top."
For the first time this year, Wilkerson will face long time friend, Del Worsham in the first-round of action tomorrow.
"Hopefully we won't make any mistakes tomorrow and go some rounds," said Wilkerson. "But Del's sure not a push over. He's going to be tough. We're just going to run the race track. I would have liked to get a run in this afternoon and try to see how it was going to act. But we're going to have to go into it a little bit blind, to tell you the truth. But we're not going to go up there and give it up. So, we'll do the best we can do and hope that we make a good decision and the car goes down the track.
"The points we get for qualifying No. 1 are going to help us move up in points. And with Kenny (Bernstein) and Jeff (Arend) not qualifying, I need to go some rounds and build up more points. We just need to go a round or two a weekend. Maybe we can just win the race here and get ourselves right up there where we need to be, and then they can chase us."
Wilkerson stays the leader of the pack
BRISTOL, Saturday: Springfield, Ill. Funny Car favorite, Tim Wilkerson has been optimistic about the performance of his Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevrolet Impala SS this year. And was able to show he was right about his hot rod in qualifying at the O'Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals. Wilkerson has the quickest Funny Car at Bristol Dragway and even though he had a problem-plagued day, no Funny Car was able to bounce out his run from last night. So, Wilkerson's 4.819 E.T. held firm for the No. 1 qualifying spot.
Wilkerson was on a good run for today's first qualifying session, but his left-side header pipe broke, which in turn put out two cylinders. Wilkerson heard the noise, then felt one cylinder drop, then the other, so he shut off the car. He crossed the finish line with a 5.053 at 279.21. He was then looking for a good run in the last session, but unfortunately was turned off at the starting line. He had an engine leak and it was too dangerous for him to make the run.
"Maybe we're getting all our bad luck out of the way today," said Wilkerson. "On our first run a header pipe broke off on it and it ended up putting a hole out. Then on our second run a stupid valve cover nut was loose. It was a simple, simple mistake. I guess we're human, that's all. The guys couldn't see it leaking and I couldn't see it, so we were going to run. But as I pulled up to the light and stopped, it really made a puddle. I saw Rick (the starter) waving at me out of the corner of my eye and I thought I'd better shut off before he gets mad at me. I deserved to be shut-off. I could have run over John Force (in the other lane) or something else really ugly. I really wanted that last run to give me some data for tomorrow.
"I half expected somebody to step up today and knock us down. When Ron Capps went out there in the first session and ran a 4.86, I thought things were going to get ugly. But the track stayed hot enough and we got to stay on top."
For the first time this year, Wilkerson will face long time friend, Del Worsham in the first-round of action tomorrow.
"Hopefully we won't make any mistakes tomorrow and go some rounds," said Wilkerson. "But Del's sure not a push over. He's going to be tough. We're just going to run the race track. I would have liked to get a run in this afternoon and try to see how it was going to act. But we're going to have to go into it a little bit blind, to tell you the truth. But we're not going to go up there and give it up. So, we'll do the best we can do and hope that we make a good decision and the car goes down the track.
"The points we get for qualifying No. 1 are going to help us move up in points. And with Kenny (Bernstein) and Jeff (Arend) not qualifying, I need to go some rounds and build up more points. We just need to go a round or two a weekend. Maybe we can just win the race here and get ourselves right up there where we need to be, and then they can chase us."
