For Wilk and The FC Class, It's Crunch Time
Posted by: Team Manager Bob Wilber
DENVER (July 21, 2015) -- While as many as 14 Funny Car drivers remain mathematically in contention to land a berth in the 10-driver Countdown to the Championship playoff group, it's looking more and more as if it's really an 11-driver gaggle battling for those 10 playoff spots. With the standings and the calendar in play, as the NHRA Mello Yello tour kicks off the fabled Western Swing this weekend in Denver, it's clearly crunch time for the Funny Car class.
As for Tim Wilkerson, driver of the Levi, Ray & Shoup Mustang, a pair of back-to-back semifinal results have kept him in eighth place in the standings, with a little bit of a cushion, but the high caliber of talent both behind him in the standings and just ahead make it clear that this race for playoff spot is apt to be a tense and drawn-out affair. Entering Denver, Courtney Force sits in 11th place but she is only 80 points out of seventh (Cruz Pedregon) and 74 points behind Wilk, in eighth. Robert Hight and Alexis DeJoria are wedged into ninth and tenth, with DeJoria holding just a 10-point lead on Force.
"We just have to keep our heads down and keep picking up some round wins, because we're all bunched in here pretty tight and things change on a daily basis," Wilk said. "I'm concentrating on the tuning and the driving, and the points will just have to handle themselves. What I mean by that is we're not racing the points, we're racing to qualify well and win rounds, and if we accomplish that we'll be in the Countdown. If we get distracted or lose our focus, we can be that odd team out at the end.
"It's going to be fun because you've got Courtney Force, and all the resources they have, sitting in 11th place. Then you have John Hale, Chad Head, and Tony Pedregon behind her, and all of those cars have been running great. There's a lot of competition involved in this, and when it all shakes out there's going to be a few very talented teams analyzing their seasons to see why they missed the Countdown. We don't want to be one of those teams, so it's definitely crunch time."
It's also the start of the Swing and that means more than just racing to Wilk. Saturday in Denver is annually one of the single biggest days of the season, in terms of pitside hospitality for Team Wilkerson, when longtime sponsor Dick Levi attends with a capacity crowd of family, friends, and associates. Wilk knows the hullaballoo can be a distraction, but he's very adept at keeping it in perspective.
"I have a great group of people on this team who handle all of that stuff for us, including my wife Krista, and LRS sends a few extra people out as well, so that gives me time to focus on tuning and driving," Wilk stated. "I take the time to meet everyone on Saturday afternoon between the sessions, signing autographs and taking pictures, but other than that I keep my head pointed at the computer and the race car for most of the day. When it's over, we all relax and have some more fun before Dick takes off.
"You add in the crunch-time feel for getting in the Countdown and the fact we're racing on the mountain where the air is thin, and there's a lot to think about. My job is to only think about the next run and, like I said, if we keep winning some rounds here and there, the points will take care of themselves. They can't catch us if we match them for round wins."
With five races left in the regular season, there are plenty of rounds, bonus points, and qualifying points left on the table. During crunch time, it all comes down to who picks up the most of them, and Wilk is laser-focused on accomplishing just that.
###
Mello Yello Standings
Top 16 Funny Cars Entering Denver
1) Matt Hagan - 1,024
2) Ron Capps - 846
3) Jack Beckman - 835
3) Del Worsham - 835
5) John Force - 801
6) Tommy Johnson - 798
7) Cruz Pedregon - 728
8) Tim Wilkerson - 722
9) Robert Hight - 667
10) Alexis DeJoria - 658
---------------------------------
11) Courtney Force - 648
12) John Hale - 503
13) Chad Head - 491
14) Tony Pedregon - 478
15) Jeff Diehl - 206
16) Terry Haddock - 102