Wilkerson Honors Personal History at NHRA Topeka. Remains Focused on Future
Posted by: Kelly Topolinski
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (May 17, 2017) – The 29th annual Menards NHRA Heartland Nationals this weekend at Heartland Park Topeka will mark the 23rd anniversary of Tim Wilkerson's first NHRA national event win. Wilkerson, driver of the Levi, Ray & Shoup Ford Shelby Mustang Funny Car, scored his first national victory behind the wheel of a feisty alcohol Funny Car there in Topeka in 1994. He has twice been runner-up at the event in a nitro-powered beast, and after a final round two weeks ago, the team owner, tuner and driver for Team LRS is primed to win.
A 20-time nitro victor on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series tour, Wilkerson drove his way to the 38th final round of his career in Atlanta to break into the top 10 in the standings. Now paused at No. 8, he plans to continue the climb – but he also knows that Heartland Park is not an easy nut to crack.
"Topeka is kind of an anomaly, and because the air isn't very good, the track is a lot better than the power you have," said Wilkerson. "We always laugh about the fact that you use the 'idiot's weatherman system' down there. You don't look at the forecast; you go to Topeka and you look around. We hit it good last year when we got there, but it's a really strange track to race on. NHRA is doing a great job prepping the track, though, and hopefully we can adapt to it within a few runs."
Last season in Topeka, Wilkerson's Funny Car lost traction at the hit in the semifinals and launched into one retain wall before turning tail and smacking the wall on the other side of the race track. Though the unusual incident left Wilkerson's car broken and his ego a bit bruised, he and his band-of-brothers team are leaps and bounds away from what occurred there one year ago. In fact, they are more focused on the good memories there than the bad, and are particularly focused on the future.
"I won my first national event ever in Topeka, my first alcohol Funny Car race," said Wilkerson. "I had a really good day, and I thought we had a good car there last year until we had our little mishap. But we're over that, and everybody knows we're in it for the long haul. We don't ever give up. If we get beat in the first round three races in a row, you know that we could come back and look like [Ron] Capps the next weekend and go on to win the next three. Everybody out here knows that's our goal."
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**Full results posted throughout the weekend at DragRaceCentral.com**
Race Info
29th annual Menards NHRA Heartland Nationals
Heartland Park Topeka
Topeka, Kan.
May 19-21, 2017
Run Schedule (all times CT)
Friday, May 19
8:00 am - Sportsman qualifying
3:30 pm - Pro qualifying session 1
6:30 pm - Pro qualifying session 2
Saturday, May 20
8:00 am - Sportsman eliminations
1:30 pm - Pro qualifying session 3
4:30 pm - Pro qualifying session 4
Sunday, May 21
11:00 a.m. - Eliminations
Television Schedule
(According to NHRA.com, May 16, 2017)
Friday, May 19, FS1 will televise one hour of pre-recorded qualifying at 11 p.m. (EST).
Saturday, May 20, FS1 will televise one hour of live qualifying at 3 p.m. (EST).
Sunday, May 21, FS1 will televise three hours of live finals at 2 p.m. (EST).
Wilkerson in Topeka
1 win in 3 Topeka final rounds, including sportsman competition
Runner-up 2008 (John Force)
Runner-up 2002 (Tony Pedregon)
Won TAFC (alcohol Funny Car) 1994 (beat Jackie Stidham)
At Topeka in 2016: Qualified No. 3, lost in the semifinals to Jack Beckman
Notable: Wilkerson's first national event win came at Heartland Park Topeka in 1994 in an alcohol Funny Car; last year he reset his career best mph at 333.74 in Topeka; he was a finalist at the most recent event on the NHRA tour (Atlanta); Wilkerson moved into the top 10 (currently No. 8) after Atlanta
Updated Career Stats heading into Topeka, race 8 of 24
No. 8 in Funny Car standings
452 races
20 wins
18 runner-up finishes
38 overall final rounds
18 No. 1 qualifier awards
Career best e.t.: 3.844 (2017 Phoenix)
Career best speed: 333.74 (2016 Topeka)
Photo credit: Auto Imagery.