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DALLAS, Sunday: Funny Car pro, Tim Wilkerson would have preferred race day at the O'Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals to last longer for his Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevrolet Impala SS. But the day still capped off a great weekend for the Springfield, Ill. favorite and his dedicated team, with their ninth quarterfinal appearance of the season. On top of their No. 1 qualifying honor, Wilkerson posted the top speed of the weekend. And the crew earned the Full Throttle Pit Crew Challenge, the highest honor a crew can earn.
Wilkerson made a nice clean run of 4.831 seconds at 324.51 mph in the first-round, taking out Jerry Toliver. This was the fastest Funny Car run of the weekend. The next round was not so favorable for Wilkerson. He slowed to a 4.993 at 277.66 mph, handing the win to Cruz Pedregon.
"We did about what I thought it would on our first pass," said Wilkerson. "We we're trying to go 81 or 82. So, it was a good run, and we're happy with that. But on our second pass, I got my feet tangled up on my starting line procedure and I ended up having a terrible reaction time. And then the thing put a hole out right after I stepped on the gas.
"But it was a great weekend. We kept going down the track and didn't hurt anything. And I'm proud of the guys for the great job they did. But really, it's just our normal deal, just trying our best. Now we're pumped and looking forward to moving onto the next race."
However, there is black cloud over the event that deeply affected Wilkerson. In the second round, the pair of Funny Cars that ran in front Wilkerson, friends John Force and Kenny Bernstein had a finish line collision. Force was seriously injured and airlifted to the hospital.
"It's sure a terrible thing that happened to John," expressed Wilkerson. "We really need to investigate how to keep our cars safer. I watched what happened and it's not good. Our prayers are with John, his family and team."
Wilkerson tops off a great weekend with top speed of the meet
DALLAS, Sunday: Funny Car pro, Tim Wilkerson would have preferred race day at the O'Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals to last longer for his Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevrolet Impala SS. But the day still capped off a great weekend for the Springfield, Ill. favorite and his dedicated team, with their ninth quarterfinal appearance of the season. On top of their No. 1 qualifying honor, Wilkerson posted the top speed of the weekend. And the crew earned the Full Throttle Pit Crew Challenge, the highest honor a crew can earn.
Wilkerson made a nice clean run of 4.831 seconds at 324.51 mph in the first-round, taking out Jerry Toliver. This was the fastest Funny Car run of the weekend. The next round was not so favorable for Wilkerson. He slowed to a 4.993 at 277.66 mph, handing the win to Cruz Pedregon.
"We did about what I thought it would on our first pass," said Wilkerson. "We we're trying to go 81 or 82. So, it was a good run, and we're happy with that. But on our second pass, I got my feet tangled up on my starting line procedure and I ended up having a terrible reaction time. And then the thing put a hole out right after I stepped on the gas.
"But it was a great weekend. We kept going down the track and didn't hurt anything. And I'm proud of the guys for the great job they did. But really, it's just our normal deal, just trying our best. Now we're pumped and looking forward to moving onto the next race."
However, there is black cloud over the event that deeply affected Wilkerson. In the second round, the pair of Funny Cars that ran in front Wilkerson, friends John Force and Kenny Bernstein had a finish line collision. Force was seriously injured and airlifted to the hospital.
"It's sure a terrible thing that happened to John," expressed Wilkerson. "We really need to investigate how to keep our cars safer. I watched what happened and it's not good. Our prayers are with John, his family and team."
