Wilk Aims To Get Back On Norwalk's Good Side
Posted by: Team Manager Bob Wilber
NORWALK, Ohio (June 30, 2015) -- Back on May 17 of this year, Tim Wilkerson won the Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway. That victory moved him "above the line" in terms of a potential playoff spot in the Countdown to the Championship and he has maintained a Top 10 spot ever since but, with only seven races remaining in the regular season, the quest for a playoff berth now seems somehow more urgent.
This weekend, at the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals in Norwalk, Wilk and his Levi, Ray & Shoup team look to double-up on the victories at an important race for a longtime sponsor, while knowing that every round-win is critical from this point forward. Entering this race in 10th place, Wilk is only four points behind Alexis DeJoria (9th), six points behind Robert Hight (8th), and 22 points behind Cruz Pedregon (7th). He also needs to fend off Courtney Force, who trails him in 11th by only 41 points.
"First of all, it's another big weekend for Summit Racing Equipment and it's really their home race, with it being in their home state of Ohio," Wilk said. "They have their name on the race and their name on the race track, and we're going to be hosting a whole bunch of their people in our pitside hospitality center all weekend, so that's all important stuff. To do well in front of them in Atlanta was great, and it would be even better to do something like that in Norwalk this weekend.
"As for the points, it's pretty easy to see how important those little qualifying points and bonus points are, just looking at the standings. We've gotten a few of those little points lately, and that's why we are in the position we're in. Getting a few more this weekend can go a long way toward getting that playoff position, but there are a lot of rounds left to go before we settle this deal, and winning rounds at 20 points apiece is where you're going to make your hay."
Over the last five annual trips to Summit Motorsports Park, Wilk has won seven rounds. Oddly, though, in true all-or-nothing fashion, they've come at just two of those last five Norwalk races. Wilk won the event in 2010, defeating John Force in a final round contested just moments before a downpour. He lost in the opening round in 2011, while in 2012 he was runner-up to Mike Neff. With that final-round appearance then being followed by two more first-round losses in 2013 and 2014, perhaps 2015 is in line to be another "all" race for Wilk, as opposed to one in the "nothing" category.
"That 2010 race was something to be a part of, because we knew the rain was coming and we were all hustling to get the thing in," Wilk recalled. "NHRA told all the professional teams to just get up there as quickly as we could, and whichever classes were in line they'd run, whether it was out of order or not. We got it in, and got the win, and then the skies opened up while we were towing back up the return road, so we just went straight to the pit. It finally let up enough for us to go back up to the lanes for a quick Winner's Circle celebration and to have some very wet photos taken.
"This season, we've been a little more consistent than we have the last few years, so hopefully we can string some more good rounds together and move up the standings a little bit. As much as we're all bunched together in the bottom half of the top ten, it's probably going to stay pretty tense right up through Indy. We could win two rounds in Norwalk and possibly go all the way up to seventh, but at the next race it could all just reverse itself. All you can do is try to keep putting numbers in the win column, and we're running well enough to do that these days."
For Wilk, it's been an up-and-down season as he heads to a track where he's had an up-and-down record, year by year. The personable Springfield, Illinois driver aims to make this 2015 Summit Racing Equipment Nationals trip an "up" success.
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2015 Mello Yello Top-16 Points Standings as of June 30
1. Matt Hagan - 866
2. Ron Capps - 779
3. John Force - 713
4. Del Worsham - 704
5. Jack Beckman - 669
6. Tommy Johnson - 643
7. Cruz Pedregon - 592
8. Robert Hight - 576
9. Alexis DeJoria - 574
10. Tim Wilkerson - 570
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11. Courtney Force - 529
12. John Hale - 441
13. Chad Head - 420
14. Tony Pedregon - 406
15. Jeff Diehl - 175
16. Terry Haddock - 102