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POMONA, Saturday: It was a beautiful day at the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona for the last day of qualifying for the 48th annual, CARQUEST Auto Parts Winternationals. And Springfield, Ill. Funny Car favorite, Tim Wilkerson took advantage of the great conditions to blast his Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevrolet Impala SS to the top of the pack, capturing the No. 1 qualifying position, with a spectacular 4.790 at 325.22 mph.
In the day’s first qualifying session Wilkerson improved on his previous two runs to post a 4.856 at 323.19, which was good for the 11th spot. Then in the last session of the weekend, Wilkerson stepped up to post his spectacular, 4.790, taking the No. 1 qualifying position away from Jerry Toliver who also ran 4.790. But Wilkerson earned the top post based on his faster mile per hour.
“I knew we we’re really, really close to a good run on our pass yesterday,” explained a jubilant Wilkerson. “So, today when we ran our 4.85, I knew I was right about yesterday. But we left some on the table with that 85, so we had room to tune it up for our last pass. We had three different scenarios in my little graphic editor, depending on whether we were in the show or not. And as it happened, we were in the show so we stuck in the one to go for the throat and worked.”
In the first-round of racing action tomorrow, Wilkerson will go against the 16th qualifier, Gary Densham.
“For tomorrow we’re just going to try to duplicate today,” Wilkerson said. “I’m not going to go out there and try to set the world upside down. But I would like to see the car go down the track again and again and again. And hopefully we can make Dick Levi, and our other sponsors and friends and fans happy.”
Wilkerson takes it to the top
POMONA, Saturday: It was a beautiful day at the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona for the last day of qualifying for the 48th annual, CARQUEST Auto Parts Winternationals. And Springfield, Ill. Funny Car favorite, Tim Wilkerson took advantage of the great conditions to blast his Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevrolet Impala SS to the top of the pack, capturing the No. 1 qualifying position, with a spectacular 4.790 at 325.22 mph.
In the day’s first qualifying session Wilkerson improved on his previous two runs to post a 4.856 at 323.19, which was good for the 11th spot. Then in the last session of the weekend, Wilkerson stepped up to post his spectacular, 4.790, taking the No. 1 qualifying position away from Jerry Toliver who also ran 4.790. But Wilkerson earned the top post based on his faster mile per hour.
“I knew we we’re really, really close to a good run on our pass yesterday,” explained a jubilant Wilkerson. “So, today when we ran our 4.85, I knew I was right about yesterday. But we left some on the table with that 85, so we had room to tune it up for our last pass. We had three different scenarios in my little graphic editor, depending on whether we were in the show or not. And as it happened, we were in the show so we stuck in the one to go for the throat and worked.”
In the first-round of racing action tomorrow, Wilkerson will go against the 16th qualifier, Gary Densham.
“For tomorrow we’re just going to try to duplicate today,” Wilkerson said. “I’m not going to go out there and try to set the world upside down. But I would like to see the car go down the track again and again and again. And hopefully we can make Dick Levi, and our other sponsors and friends and fans happy.”
