Tim Wilkerson has unfinished business at NHRA season-opener
Posted by: Kelly Topolinski
SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS (February 8, 2017) – Tim Wilkerson is fired up for the 2017 season of NHRA's Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. The driver of the Levi, Ray & Shoup Ford Shelby Mustang will debut a brand-new paint scheme at the 57th annual Circle K NHRA Winternationals this weekend at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, and the bright LRS colors on his Murf McKinney-built Funny Car will be turning heads throughout the season as Wilkerson wheels his way through his 21st year as a nitro Funny Car driver.
He has accomplished much since making his first start in the heavily horsepowered Funny Car category at the Gainesville race in 1996. Last season, Wilkerson finished in the prestigious top 10 for the 12th time in his career, and the LRS crew was the only independent team to secure a position in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs. In the 445 races Wilkerson has so far contested, the owner/crew chief/driver has claimed 20 wins in 37 final rounds.
Wilkerson is aiming to add to those statistics, and when the season kicks off in Pomona, he has some unfinished business to address. The Springfield, Illinois-based driver has won at all but four racetracks on the current NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule, and Auto Club Raceway at Pomona is one he has yet to tick off the list.
"It will be exciting to get to Pomona, and hopefully we can run well and at least get some round wins under our belt," said Wilkerson, who was runner-up at the season-opener in 1998. "I've been close, but I've never won there, and I'd sure like to. You better believe I'm looking forward to that one."
The feat will not be easy, as evidenced last week during Nitro Spring Training, a nitro car test session at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park near Phoenix.
"When we were there in Phoenix, you could tell everybody was pretty ramped up and doing a terrific job," said Wilkerson. "We're going to have to try to figure out how to run with these guys and gals. We always say, every year, that it's going to be the toughest season ever – but it's true. This is going to be another real tough season, and Pomona will be the telltale sign of how mean the year is going to be.
"We're all real excited, though. We've got some new partners on board with Polar Air Compressors, Axe Equipment, and Bond-Coat, Inc., and they're joining the great folks who have stuck with us, including Dick Levi and Levi, Ray & Shoup; Summit Racing; and Curry Transportation Services. We hope to make them all proud, and it all starts right there in Pomona."
Circle K NHRA Nationals
Auto Club Raceway at Pomona
Pomona, California
February 9-12, 2017
Run Schedule (all times PT)
Friday – Pro qualifying 12:30 & 3:30pm
Saturday – Pro qualifying 12:30 & 3:30pm
Sunday – Eliminations 11am
Television Schedule (all times ET)
Friday – Pro qualifying 7-8pm on FS1
Saturday – Pro qualifying 1-2pm on FS1
Sunday – Pro qualifying 2-3am on FS1
Sunday – Eliminations 4-7pm LIVE on FOX