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BRISTOL, Sunday: Even though Tim Wilkerson would have liked to take his Levi, Ray & Shoup Impala Funny Car more rounds today at the O’Reilly Thunder Valley Nationals, he maintained his points lead and leaves Bristol Dragway still sitting on the top of the Funny Car heap.
During a rain ravaged day, cars went down the quarter-mile between the rain drops. Wilkerson was the first pair of Funny Cars to run, and he posted an impressive 4.823 at 311.77 mph, against a tire smoking Gary Densham. Just as the pair ran, the drizzle started and halted the action. A little later in the day, Wilkerson faced the Force Racing team car driven by Robert Hight. Wilkerson encountered some problems on the run and slowed to a 4.884 at 296.70 mph handing the win to Hight, who posted a stellar 4.773.
“The car did just about what I was looking for on our first run,” explained Wilkerson. “It did fall just a tiny bit short, but maybe the raindrops dripping on my windshield had something to do with that. On our second run, we were looking for a lot more than a 4.88 but the car let me down big time. I don’t know what happened. We had a problem with dropping cylinders on the big end all weekend. I think I may have had my fuel ratio off for this air.
“But we had a good weekend. We did a little testing yesterday and learned some things. We still have the points lead. We would have liked to go a few more rounds in order to deepen our lead, but we’re still happy with everything. We also kept our leads in the U.S. Smokeless Showdown and in the Full Throttle Pit Crew Challenge. So, you’re not going to hear any complaining coming from us. Now we’ll get ready for Topeka and hope we have a little better advantage there.”
Wilkerson’s first win this year came in Las Vegas. At the next race in Atlanta, he went out second round. Wilk then came back and won the next race in St. Louis. He followed up that win with today’s second round loss. If there is a pattern developing here, the O’Reilly Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka, in two weeks, should be exciting.
Wilkerson still the leader of the pack
BRISTOL, Sunday: Even though Tim Wilkerson would have liked to take his Levi, Ray & Shoup Impala Funny Car more rounds today at the O’Reilly Thunder Valley Nationals, he maintained his points lead and leaves Bristol Dragway still sitting on the top of the Funny Car heap.
During a rain ravaged day, cars went down the quarter-mile between the rain drops. Wilkerson was the first pair of Funny Cars to run, and he posted an impressive 4.823 at 311.77 mph, against a tire smoking Gary Densham. Just as the pair ran, the drizzle started and halted the action. A little later in the day, Wilkerson faced the Force Racing team car driven by Robert Hight. Wilkerson encountered some problems on the run and slowed to a 4.884 at 296.70 mph handing the win to Hight, who posted a stellar 4.773.
“The car did just about what I was looking for on our first run,” explained Wilkerson. “It did fall just a tiny bit short, but maybe the raindrops dripping on my windshield had something to do with that. On our second run, we were looking for a lot more than a 4.88 but the car let me down big time. I don’t know what happened. We had a problem with dropping cylinders on the big end all weekend. I think I may have had my fuel ratio off for this air.
“But we had a good weekend. We did a little testing yesterday and learned some things. We still have the points lead. We would have liked to go a few more rounds in order to deepen our lead, but we’re still happy with everything. We also kept our leads in the U.S. Smokeless Showdown and in the Full Throttle Pit Crew Challenge. So, you’re not going to hear any complaining coming from us. Now we’ll get ready for Topeka and hope we have a little better advantage there.”
Wilkerson’s first win this year came in Las Vegas. At the next race in Atlanta, he went out second round. Wilk then came back and won the next race in St. Louis. He followed up that win with today’s second round loss. If there is a pattern developing here, the O’Reilly Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka, in two weeks, should be exciting.
