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Memphis, TN (8/18/06) -- Unexpected rain showers caused a four hour delay in racing action today at the O'Reilly Mid-South Nationals, which forced the cancellation of one round of qualifying. Tim Wilkerson wanted to take full advantage of the single opportunity to take on the Memphis quarter-mile and put his Levi, Ray & Shoup Monte Carlo solidly into the show. And he did just that by posting a 5.045 at 289.45, which is good for the No. 10 qualifying position.
"We really wanted to go a little better," explained Wilkerson, "but Fred (Mandoline) was afraid of the starting line. So, we gave a tenth away real early. It should have been a 4.94 run."
Wilkerson had the dubious distinction of being the first pair of Funny Cars to go down the track.
"You go up there and make a decision," said Wilkerson, "and we were first pair. The starting line wasn't very good and Fred said we needed to treat it like a match race. So, that's what we did. At least we're in the program and we have something to work with. Tomorrow night's run will be the one, of course. You just have to make sure not to screw it up. So, we'll just try to go out there tomorrow and make another run down the track. Then at night, we'll try to go a mid-80 and be over it. But there's really nothing to talk about until tomorrow night."
Wilkerson takes the No. 10 qualifying spot
Memphis, TN (8/18/06) -- Unexpected rain showers caused a four hour delay in racing action today at the O'Reilly Mid-South Nationals, which forced the cancellation of one round of qualifying. Tim Wilkerson wanted to take full advantage of the single opportunity to take on the Memphis quarter-mile and put his Levi, Ray & Shoup Monte Carlo solidly into the show. And he did just that by posting a 5.045 at 289.45, which is good for the No. 10 qualifying position.
"We really wanted to go a little better," explained Wilkerson, "but Fred (Mandoline) was afraid of the starting line. So, we gave a tenth away real early. It should have been a 4.94 run."
Wilkerson had the dubious distinction of being the first pair of Funny Cars to go down the track.
"You go up there and make a decision," said Wilkerson, "and we were first pair. The starting line wasn't very good and Fred said we needed to treat it like a match race. So, that's what we did. At least we're in the program and we have something to work with. Tomorrow night's run will be the one, of course. You just have to make sure not to screw it up. So, we'll just try to go out there tomorrow and make another run down the track. Then at night, we'll try to go a mid-80 and be over it. But there's really nothing to talk about until tomorrow night."
