With great things in his future, Wilkerson can focus on the task at hand
<img src="http://www.nitromater.com/gallery/files/5/t_wilkerson.jpg" alt="t_wilkerson" align="right"borders="0"/>
LAS VEGAS, Saturday: It was a busy day at the ACDelco Las Vegas Nationals
for Funny Car points leader, Tim Wilkerson. It started with a special press conference announcing his 2009 plans and ended with getting his Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevy Impala SS settled into the No. 8 qualifying position.
On the racing action side, Wilkerson came close to what he was looking for in the day’s first qualifying session. He was looking for a 4.10 and posted a 4.117 at 302.82. On the last attempt, Wilkerson ran into a piston problem and slowed to a 4.138 at 290.76 mph.
“On our first run, we ran pretty close to what we were looking for,” Wilkerson said. “We were trying to run a .10 and it ran an .11, so we were pretty happy with that one. But on the second one, it hurt a piston real early in the run. We really don’t know why it did that, but it did. It wounded it real early, so that’s why it went so slow. So, now we just have to get it fixed for tomorrow.”
Wilkerson’s first-round opponent will be the Team Force car, driven by Mike Neff. The two have faced off five times on race day, with Wilkerson getting all the wins.
“We’ve got a tough draw tomorrow morning,” said Wilkerson. “We’ve got Neff. There’s no easy racing out there. They’re all tough. So, hopefully we can take him out, again. We just need to take it one run at a time. Looking at the ladder, we have an opportunity to race all four Force cars tomorrow. Wouldn’t that be cool!”
In his early morning press conference, Wilkerson made a surprising announcement concerning his 2009 plans. He announced that he has formed an alliance with Bob Tasca III and his Ford Tasca Racing team.
“I’m really excited about bringing our teams together,” said Wilkerson. “Being able to share data with another Funny Car team is huge. Getting at-track information really seems to be the problem for single-car teams. Bob and I have talked about this for a very long time. We talked a lot about why I would want to do this with him and why he would want to do it with me. Bob has a lot to bring to the table on the business side and of course my selling point to him is that I’m a veteran racer.
“I’m really excited to be involved with Ford. I’ve been with General Motors for my whole career. But with the changes that GM is making out here, the timing couldn’t be better. So, I’m really pleased and I can’t tell you how many benefits I can see in the future for both of us and hopefully Ford will be happy to have me on their team”
“I’ve always been determined to create a championship caliber program,” said Tasca, “that’s what I’ve been focused on from day one and what I committed to Ford Motor Company. Forming this alliance is huge news. For Ford Motor Company, they’ll have six Fords out here running the Chevy’s and Dodge’s down. Certainly since we’ve come through this first year, it’s become very apparent that a two-car team is a huge advantage. This is something that we’ve thought through, we’ve strategized, we looked at the pros and cons of, and I can just tell you that the two teams coming together, makes me proud to stand behind Tim Wilkerson and I really feel that we’re creating our own little empire here and it’s going to be a force to be reckoned with next year.”
Another great aspect coming out of this relationship for Wilkerson is that he will be running the Ford Mustang body and have a Ford Flex for a tow vehicle.
“I’m really excited about driving a Ford next year,” expressed Wilkerson. “I’ve known the history of the bodies with John(Force) for years. I know that they’re the best out here. So this is a huge deal for me. We have a pretty decent car already and anything to make it better isn’t going to upset me.”
“We’re very happy Tim has decided to run a Ford Mustang next year and partner with Tasca Racing,” said Brian Wolfe, director of Ford Racing Technology. “It says a lot when someone the caliber of Tim decides to switch over to our product. We believe this alliance between Tim’s and Bob’s operations will help both teams be better, and we believe it will help make our Ford presence in NHRA even stronger.”
As a two car team, the two will pit together and share information and resources. But each will continue to own and manage their respective team individually. Wilkerson will maintain his shop in Springfield, Ill. and Tasca will soon be moving into his new shop in Concord, N.C.
Wilkerson’s long running relationship with Springfield, Ill. based Levi, Ray & Shoup will continue, as will his Mac Tools and Summit Racing sponsorships. He also has a few new associate sponsorships forming for next year.
“Based on our renewal with LRS for next year, I can only see this alliance as an added bonus that will help us have another championship contention season,” expressed Wilkerson.”
<img src="http://www.nitromater.com/gallery/files/5/t_wilkerson.jpg" alt="t_wilkerson" align="right"borders="0"/>
LAS VEGAS, Saturday: It was a busy day at the ACDelco Las Vegas Nationals
for Funny Car points leader, Tim Wilkerson. It started with a special press conference announcing his 2009 plans and ended with getting his Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevy Impala SS settled into the No. 8 qualifying position.
On the racing action side, Wilkerson came close to what he was looking for in the day’s first qualifying session. He was looking for a 4.10 and posted a 4.117 at 302.82. On the last attempt, Wilkerson ran into a piston problem and slowed to a 4.138 at 290.76 mph.
“On our first run, we ran pretty close to what we were looking for,” Wilkerson said. “We were trying to run a .10 and it ran an .11, so we were pretty happy with that one. But on the second one, it hurt a piston real early in the run. We really don’t know why it did that, but it did. It wounded it real early, so that’s why it went so slow. So, now we just have to get it fixed for tomorrow.”
Wilkerson’s first-round opponent will be the Team Force car, driven by Mike Neff. The two have faced off five times on race day, with Wilkerson getting all the wins.
“We’ve got a tough draw tomorrow morning,” said Wilkerson. “We’ve got Neff. There’s no easy racing out there. They’re all tough. So, hopefully we can take him out, again. We just need to take it one run at a time. Looking at the ladder, we have an opportunity to race all four Force cars tomorrow. Wouldn’t that be cool!”
In his early morning press conference, Wilkerson made a surprising announcement concerning his 2009 plans. He announced that he has formed an alliance with Bob Tasca III and his Ford Tasca Racing team.
“I’m really excited about bringing our teams together,” said Wilkerson. “Being able to share data with another Funny Car team is huge. Getting at-track information really seems to be the problem for single-car teams. Bob and I have talked about this for a very long time. We talked a lot about why I would want to do this with him and why he would want to do it with me. Bob has a lot to bring to the table on the business side and of course my selling point to him is that I’m a veteran racer.
“I’m really excited to be involved with Ford. I’ve been with General Motors for my whole career. But with the changes that GM is making out here, the timing couldn’t be better. So, I’m really pleased and I can’t tell you how many benefits I can see in the future for both of us and hopefully Ford will be happy to have me on their team”
“I’ve always been determined to create a championship caliber program,” said Tasca, “that’s what I’ve been focused on from day one and what I committed to Ford Motor Company. Forming this alliance is huge news. For Ford Motor Company, they’ll have six Fords out here running the Chevy’s and Dodge’s down. Certainly since we’ve come through this first year, it’s become very apparent that a two-car team is a huge advantage. This is something that we’ve thought through, we’ve strategized, we looked at the pros and cons of, and I can just tell you that the two teams coming together, makes me proud to stand behind Tim Wilkerson and I really feel that we’re creating our own little empire here and it’s going to be a force to be reckoned with next year.”
Another great aspect coming out of this relationship for Wilkerson is that he will be running the Ford Mustang body and have a Ford Flex for a tow vehicle.
“I’m really excited about driving a Ford next year,” expressed Wilkerson. “I’ve known the history of the bodies with John(Force) for years. I know that they’re the best out here. So this is a huge deal for me. We have a pretty decent car already and anything to make it better isn’t going to upset me.”
“We’re very happy Tim has decided to run a Ford Mustang next year and partner with Tasca Racing,” said Brian Wolfe, director of Ford Racing Technology. “It says a lot when someone the caliber of Tim decides to switch over to our product. We believe this alliance between Tim’s and Bob’s operations will help both teams be better, and we believe it will help make our Ford presence in NHRA even stronger.”
As a two car team, the two will pit together and share information and resources. But each will continue to own and manage their respective team individually. Wilkerson will maintain his shop in Springfield, Ill. and Tasca will soon be moving into his new shop in Concord, N.C.
Wilkerson’s long running relationship with Springfield, Ill. based Levi, Ray & Shoup will continue, as will his Mac Tools and Summit Racing sponsorships. He also has a few new associate sponsorships forming for next year.
“Based on our renewal with LRS for next year, I can only see this alliance as an added bonus that will help us have another championship contention season,” expressed Wilkerson.”
