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GAINESVILLE, Sunday: Funny Car pro, Tim Wilkerson enjoyed a great weekend at the ACDELCO Gatornationals. Wilkerson’s Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevrolet Impala SS was one mean hot rod. Wilkerson qualified third and went to his first semifinal round of the season, all signs of a strong running car, a dedicated, hard-working team and a talented tuner.
In today’s action, Wilkerson took out Mike Neff in the first-round with a 5.072. In the second round he faced Jack Beckman and stunned the crowd with the quickest and fastest pass of the day, a 4.848 at 322.34 mph. This put Wilkerson up against Gary Densham in the semifinal round. Again Wilkerson put down a good run at 4.925 at 318.69, but lost to Densham’s 4.964 on a holeshot. It was a tough way to end the day for Wilkerson, but it didn’t dampen the fact that it was the best race of the season for the Springfield, Ill. based team. And it certainly let the competition know that Wilkerson was back.
“It was a tough way to end a great weekend,” said Wilkerson. “I was just late. It happens sometimes and you hate it. But we can’t feel too bad, because we had a good weekend. The car is running good and the team is doing a good job. We had Dick Levi and a big group of guests yesterday, and had a great time with them. So, we’ve got a lot to be happy about. I’m really glad we kept going today because I feel terrible. I don’t know what I have but I’m standing in the sun in 85 degrees and I’m cold. So, it was the adrenaline of going rounds that kept me going.
“We’re planning to stay and test our new blowers tomorrow. We want to see if they can do us some good. And then we’ll get ready to head to Houston and try to do this again.”
Wilkerson takes it to the semifinals
GAINESVILLE, Sunday: Funny Car pro, Tim Wilkerson enjoyed a great weekend at the ACDELCO Gatornationals. Wilkerson’s Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevrolet Impala SS was one mean hot rod. Wilkerson qualified third and went to his first semifinal round of the season, all signs of a strong running car, a dedicated, hard-working team and a talented tuner.
In today’s action, Wilkerson took out Mike Neff in the first-round with a 5.072. In the second round he faced Jack Beckman and stunned the crowd with the quickest and fastest pass of the day, a 4.848 at 322.34 mph. This put Wilkerson up against Gary Densham in the semifinal round. Again Wilkerson put down a good run at 4.925 at 318.69, but lost to Densham’s 4.964 on a holeshot. It was a tough way to end the day for Wilkerson, but it didn’t dampen the fact that it was the best race of the season for the Springfield, Ill. based team. And it certainly let the competition know that Wilkerson was back.
“It was a tough way to end a great weekend,” said Wilkerson. “I was just late. It happens sometimes and you hate it. But we can’t feel too bad, because we had a good weekend. The car is running good and the team is doing a good job. We had Dick Levi and a big group of guests yesterday, and had a great time with them. So, we’ve got a lot to be happy about. I’m really glad we kept going today because I feel terrible. I don’t know what I have but I’m standing in the sun in 85 degrees and I’m cold. So, it was the adrenaline of going rounds that kept me going.
“We’re planning to stay and test our new blowers tomorrow. We want to see if they can do us some good. And then we’ll get ready to head to Houston and try to do this again.”
