Wilk Powers Into The Playoff Push
Posted by: Team Manager Bob Wilber
CHARLOTTE (September 15, 2015) -- Tim Wilkerson began the 2015 season with a first-round loss in Pomona. He left there in the No. 13 spot in the standings. When he departed Houston in early May, he was in 12th place and very much in need of a boost, both on the track and in the rankings. He got that boost at the very next race, in Atlanta, and his win there not only locked up a spot for him in the Traxxas Shootout, it also catapulted him into the No. 8 spot in the standings. He never again held a position outside of the top 10, in his Levi, Ray & Shoup Mustang, throughout the remainder of the NHRA Mello Yello regular season.
Still, his Countdown playoff position was in real jeopardy right up until the 4th of July weekend in Norwalk, but Wilk managed to temper the tension and solidify his spot by advancing to three semifinals and three quarterfinals, with only a solitary first-round loss, at the next seven races, and he clinched his playoff position by simply qualifying at the final regular-season race, at Indianapolis. Now, with the NHRA Carolina Nationals on tap for this weekend at zMAX Dragway in Charlotte, Wilk aims to carry over that consistency and keep up the pressure.
"A few years back we needed to go to Indy and have about nine things all happen in the right order, just to have a chance at the Countdown, and somehow it all happened that way," Wilk said. "That was kind of neat, but I can say for certain that, even though we didn't clinch until we qualified at Indy, doing it this way was far better than needing all the stars in the sky to line up just right. Now it's a six-race sprint to the end.
"We look at it just like that, like it's a new season and it's only six races long. We went from being something like 400 points out of first place to only being 90 points out of first after the reset, and we have six quick races to make that up. We have a chance, and that's all I can ask for. We're up against some incredible competition, and Jack Beckman has been the ace of the class since the Western Swing, but we have a chance and we'll try to make the best of it."
To be specific, when Beckman crossed the finish line to win at Indy, his lead on Wilk was a staggering 436 points. Minutes later, however, when the points were reset to start the Countdown playoffs, Wilk was only 90 points behind. In terms of round-wins, Beckman's lead over Wilk (who enters the Countdown in the No. 8 spot) went from an unimaginable 22 rounds to only five rounds. It's time for a playoff push.
"I always say that we can only do the best we can, and my guys have done that all year," Wilk said. "We started out green, but these guys have poured their hearts into this and they turned into a team really quickly. I can't even say how proud I am of each one of them. I wouldn't trade them for any other team out there.
"So, we're this little group that has to get in the ring with these big bruisers and try to duck and weave our way out of it. This is no time to get conservative or just try to be okay. It's time to get aggressive and go for whatever glory we can reach. We want to be the guys everyone is talking about, and that's our mindset. You'll have to beat us, because we'll be getting after it and we don't beat ourselves very often."
Let the playoffs begin.
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