Wilkerson Makes Strides In Countdown To The Championship
Posted by: Nicole Erickson
Charlotte, NC (September 21, 2016) – The NHRA Carolina Nationals was the first race in the 2016 Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship and every team wanted to start off strong and build points. Tim Wilkerson was able to start building points before race day started.
Qualifying passes were hit and miss for the team on a very hot and humid weekend. Track temperatures at zMAX Dragway were as high as 134 degrees. But in Q4 Wilkerson’s Levi, Ray & Shoup Shelby Mustang went an impressive 3.911 elapsed time at 323.97 mph. This put him in the sixth qualifying position and garnered him three bonus points for low E.T. of the round.
In the first round of eliminations Wilkerson defeated Chad Head with a 4.029/312.28 to 4.172/253.99. In Round two Wilkerson faced John Force. While Force had a reaction time of .394 to Wilkerson’s .079, the hot race track got the best of the Levi, Ray & Shoup Mustang, causing the tires to smoke and Force grabbing the win. (4.013/319.90 to 7.401/103.50)
“We thought things were going pretty good. In first round we did okay, we just spun the tires and put a hole out, but still went 4.02,” Wilkerson said. “And second round the tires would just not stop spinning leaving the starting line. That starting line was crazy tricky up there. Everybody was fighting it as you can see. If you got past the starting line, you could get whatever you wanted out there in the middle, but we just missed it.”
Next up is the AAA NHRA Midwest Nationals in St. Louis which is a home event for Wilkerson. Expect to see a lot of his die-hard fans known as “Wilk’s Warriors.”
“We’re happy to be that close to home and excited to see all our friends and do the best that we can do so we can keep going rounds,” Wilkerson said. “I’m not going to lie though: it’s going to be stressful too. Brian Stewart’s running, so my son Daniel will be out there working on his car. Dick Levi is also going to bring all his closest friends out too. We don’t want to disappoint all of our fans.”
Fans will be able to come out and meet Wilkerson at the Gateway Motorsports Fanfest this Thursday from 6:00 to 7:30 at Ball Park Village in St. Louis located across the street from Busch Stadium.
Wilkerson is currently ninth in Nitro Funny Car points in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship.
Race Schedule for the AAA NHRA Midwest Nationals
Friday, September 23: Nitro Qualifying 3:30 & 6:00 CT
Saturday, September 24: Nitro Qualifying 2:30 & 5:00 CT
Sunday, September 25: Nitro Eliminations begin at 11:00 a.m. CT
TV Times for AAA NHRA Midwest Nationals on FS1
Friday, September 23: One-Hour Qualifying Coverage at 7:00 p.m. CT
Sunday, September 25: One-Hour Qualifying Coverage at 2:00 to 3:00 a.m. CT
Sunday, September 25: Three-Hours LIVE Coverage of Eliminations at 2:00 p.m. CT
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