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NORWALK, Friday: Tim Wilkerson made two terrific runs in his Levi, Ray & Shoup Impala SS Funny Car, in the opening day of qualifying at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals. As a spectacular fireworks show marked the end of the day, Wilkerson sits in the No. 6 spot.
As many cars struggled, Wilkerson posted a 4.883 in the first session, which qualified him third. His 317.87 mph was the fastest pass of the round. As the temperature cooled for the second session, Wilkerson improved to a 4.775 at 324.67.
"The car is coming around," explained a pleased Wilkerson, " it's acting better and the parts are better, that's all there is to it. We ran one of our new blowers that we had a guy work on and that really made a difference. We ran it on our first pass and we're going to run it again tomorrow. I kind of have the clutch under control. It's still not where I want it, but it's getting better. And we're taking it one round at a time. It's great to do well on Friday because now tomorrow we can concentrate on running for Sunday. I doubt we can run better than a 77 in the heat tomorrow. So, we're going to try to run a mid to low 80.
"And the crew it doing a fantastic job. You can see the car going from one end to the other. I doesn't do anything wrong, it's not leaking, and they're not yelling at us. It's just terrific and I'm really proud of them.
"You know, there are so many really good teams out here that have lots of talent and plenty of money and are having just as many problems, if not more, as we are. So, we feel pretty fortunate to be in the position we're in. We get to go racing and do what we love."
Wilkerson takes the No. 6 spot
NORWALK, Friday: Tim Wilkerson made two terrific runs in his Levi, Ray & Shoup Impala SS Funny Car, in the opening day of qualifying at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals. As a spectacular fireworks show marked the end of the day, Wilkerson sits in the No. 6 spot.
As many cars struggled, Wilkerson posted a 4.883 in the first session, which qualified him third. His 317.87 mph was the fastest pass of the round. As the temperature cooled for the second session, Wilkerson improved to a 4.775 at 324.67.
"The car is coming around," explained a pleased Wilkerson, " it's acting better and the parts are better, that's all there is to it. We ran one of our new blowers that we had a guy work on and that really made a difference. We ran it on our first pass and we're going to run it again tomorrow. I kind of have the clutch under control. It's still not where I want it, but it's getting better. And we're taking it one round at a time. It's great to do well on Friday because now tomorrow we can concentrate on running for Sunday. I doubt we can run better than a 77 in the heat tomorrow. So, we're going to try to run a mid to low 80.
"And the crew it doing a fantastic job. You can see the car going from one end to the other. I doesn't do anything wrong, it's not leaking, and they're not yelling at us. It's just terrific and I'm really proud of them.
"You know, there are so many really good teams out here that have lots of talent and plenty of money and are having just as many problems, if not more, as we are. So, we feel pretty fortunate to be in the position we're in. We get to go racing and do what we love."
