Wilkerson Puts on a Display of Speed at the NHRA Summernationals

One week ago, Tim Wilkerson and the Levi, Ray & Shoup Ford Mustang nitro Funny Car team logged a semifinals finish at the NHRA Nationals in Indy. This weekend at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis, they put on a display of speed with one of the quickest race cars on the property at the NHRA Summernationals.

Saturday qualifying had been a toasty affair. The air had been heavy with water droplets that indicated an absurdly challenging dewpoint, and the sun was beating mercilessly on the racing surface. Sunday, though, turned up cooler with the threat of summer storms.

Wilkerson qualified third, and opted to be one of the first pair of Nitro Funny Cars to run in Round One of eliminations. The ambitious stance paid off as he clocked a 3.946-second pass at 320.28 MPH to defeat Dale Creasy, Jr. 4.708 and send a chill down the spines of those strapped in behind him in their own Funny Cars.
  
After his first-round victory, Wilkerson and his devoted crew hustled to prepare for the quarterfinals. They pulled up to the staging lanes and cinched the driver into his race car, but as Wilkerson pulled up towards the waterbox, a Top Fuel dragster in the final pair dropped a cylinder and oiled the track. The team could only sit and watch the clouds move in as the scrubbers went to work removing the offending liquid before a new layer of rubber was laid down. 

With the track prepped, Wilkerson squared off against Jack Beckman. The pair with .008-second apart off the starting line, and was Beckman crossing the finish line first with a 3.991/317.72 to Wilk's 4.009/316.82.
 
"If I'd have been outside of my car, I could have done a couple of things differently, but you can second-guess yourself until you're blue in the face," Wilkerson said. "We got up there and it was 119 [degrees Fahrenheit], and by the time we ran, it was 104. The weather got away from us, and there was no fixing it. Our LRS Ford did exactly what I thought it would do, though. It was just a little too slow leaving, stuck the tire, and didn't move."
  
"It was a really good race. No doubt about that, “Wilkerson continued."We had a good car last weekend, too. So, we'll get all the junk we beat up the last two races in a pile, tune it up, and then go on to the next one. I think we'll be alright wherever we go. It seems like our LRS Mustang is very cooperative, and that's the most important part of the whole thing."

Wilkerson is currently fourth in the Nitro Funny Car points standings.
 
The next Nitro event on the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule is the NHRA Indy Nationals, August 7-9 at Lucas Oil Raceway. Go to NHRA.com to view the current schedule.