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TOPEKA, Prerace: With the unexpected postponement of the O'Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway, Tim Wilkerson decided to take advantage of his time off to take his Levi, Ray & Shoup Funny Car for a test drive. And IHRA's Inaugural Skull Shine Sooner Nationals in Tulsa, Okla. afforded him the perfect opportunity. Wilkerson's powerful hot rod has shown promise this season but the Springfield, Ill. favorite knows he needs to work out some bugs in the car in order to get the performance he is looking for, and be prepared for the upcoming O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka.
A test session is a rare occurrence on Wilkerson's schedule so he went to Tulsa with a full agenda. But unfortunately, the rain plaguing the area reigned supreme and the weekend ended early. Wilkerson was only able to make three passes.
"We went to Tulsa with the intention of learning," explained Wilkerson. "The track was great, but unfortunately the weather wasn't. There were several things we wanted to test and the weather affected some of what we wanted to do, but still the weekend was very productive."
A major reason Wilkerson went to test before this weekend's event was to make sure his newly repaired and reinforced Impala SS was race worthy. The highly anticipated new Impala SS body let Wilkerson down at its debut race in Atlanta. In the darkness of the night pass, Wilkerson watched the body cave-in around him. Apparently, there wasn't enough underbody support to maintain the downforce and rigors of over 300 mph.
The body spent time at Murf McKinney's shop in Indiana being made race worthy and Wilkerson wanted to make a few test laps in his hot rod before bringing it back out in competition.
"We wanted to make some runs on the Impala before taking it to a race," said Wilkerson. "We wanted to make sure it could withstand going down the track. I'm satisfied that it's strong enough, so I'm going to run it in Topeka."
Another of Wilkerson's concerns was his superchargers. Wilkerson has several superchargers, but only one has been consistent and dependable. The others only caused Wilkerson problems and frustration. Sitting majestically on top of the engine, the supercharger (blower) is an integral part of the race car and is used to improve power. It is a crank-driven compressor that increases the flow of air and fuel mixed into the cylinders, and results in added horsepower. So you certainly can't race and entire weekend depending on one supercharger. So, Wilkerson purchased two new superchargers and needed to try them out.
"We got to try one of the blowers," explained Wilkerson, "but with the weather, we weren't able to get after it the way we would have liked to. It showed some promise, but we've got a lot more testing ahead of us before we know anything. Just because you buy a new blower doesn't make it a good blower, it just makes it a new blower. We need about a dozen runs on it before we can tell if it's worth anything.
"We also got some clutch stuff tested. We have the hot weather races ahead of us, so we tried some things in the clutch for the hot tracks. That worked out well and showed us some promise.
"So, I'm feeling good going to Topeka. I know we have a whole lot of testing ahead of us, to be close to where the multi-car teams are but I think we may see some improvement."
Wilkerson has always shown his skills at Heartland Park. He usually enjoys a solid qualifying position, he has enjoyed a semifinal and a final-round appearance, and early in his career, he earned a win in his Top Alcohol Funny Car. So, with his Chevrolet Impala SS having been put to the test, this weekend may be the time the performance that has been churning deep inside the Levi, Ray & Shoup Funny Car, may burst out and take Wilkerson on the road to a win.
Wilkerson takes his Impala for a test drive before heading to Topeka
TOPEKA, Prerace: With the unexpected postponement of the O'Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway, Tim Wilkerson decided to take advantage of his time off to take his Levi, Ray & Shoup Funny Car for a test drive. And IHRA's Inaugural Skull Shine Sooner Nationals in Tulsa, Okla. afforded him the perfect opportunity. Wilkerson's powerful hot rod has shown promise this season but the Springfield, Ill. favorite knows he needs to work out some bugs in the car in order to get the performance he is looking for, and be prepared for the upcoming O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka.
A test session is a rare occurrence on Wilkerson's schedule so he went to Tulsa with a full agenda. But unfortunately, the rain plaguing the area reigned supreme and the weekend ended early. Wilkerson was only able to make three passes.
"We went to Tulsa with the intention of learning," explained Wilkerson. "The track was great, but unfortunately the weather wasn't. There were several things we wanted to test and the weather affected some of what we wanted to do, but still the weekend was very productive."
A major reason Wilkerson went to test before this weekend's event was to make sure his newly repaired and reinforced Impala SS was race worthy. The highly anticipated new Impala SS body let Wilkerson down at its debut race in Atlanta. In the darkness of the night pass, Wilkerson watched the body cave-in around him. Apparently, there wasn't enough underbody support to maintain the downforce and rigors of over 300 mph.
The body spent time at Murf McKinney's shop in Indiana being made race worthy and Wilkerson wanted to make a few test laps in his hot rod before bringing it back out in competition.
"We wanted to make some runs on the Impala before taking it to a race," said Wilkerson. "We wanted to make sure it could withstand going down the track. I'm satisfied that it's strong enough, so I'm going to run it in Topeka."
Another of Wilkerson's concerns was his superchargers. Wilkerson has several superchargers, but only one has been consistent and dependable. The others only caused Wilkerson problems and frustration. Sitting majestically on top of the engine, the supercharger (blower) is an integral part of the race car and is used to improve power. It is a crank-driven compressor that increases the flow of air and fuel mixed into the cylinders, and results in added horsepower. So you certainly can't race and entire weekend depending on one supercharger. So, Wilkerson purchased two new superchargers and needed to try them out.
"We got to try one of the blowers," explained Wilkerson, "but with the weather, we weren't able to get after it the way we would have liked to. It showed some promise, but we've got a lot more testing ahead of us before we know anything. Just because you buy a new blower doesn't make it a good blower, it just makes it a new blower. We need about a dozen runs on it before we can tell if it's worth anything.
"We also got some clutch stuff tested. We have the hot weather races ahead of us, so we tried some things in the clutch for the hot tracks. That worked out well and showed us some promise.
"So, I'm feeling good going to Topeka. I know we have a whole lot of testing ahead of us, to be close to where the multi-car teams are but I think we may see some improvement."
Wilkerson has always shown his skills at Heartland Park. He usually enjoys a solid qualifying position, he has enjoyed a semifinal and a final-round appearance, and early in his career, he earned a win in his Top Alcohol Funny Car. So, with his Chevrolet Impala SS having been put to the test, this weekend may be the time the performance that has been churning deep inside the Levi, Ray & Shoup Funny Car, may burst out and take Wilkerson on the road to a win.
