Posted by: Kelly Wade
SPRINGFIELD, IL. (February 6, 2019) –Tim Wilkerson, driver of the Levi, Ray and Shoup Ford Mustang nitro Funny Car, will launch into the 2019 season of NHRA's Mello Yello Drag Racing Series a 20-time winner in the category. Wilkerson, of Springfield, Illinois, had a full off-season in preparation for the target: race wins and a chance at his first series championship.
What did winter look like in the Tim Wilkerson Racing shop?
TW: Our basic off-season was just trying to make sure that the way our Levi, Ray and Shoup Ford Mustang performed the last six races of 2018 is the way it performs when we get to Pomona. We think we can make that happen, but at the same time, I’m sure everybody else was doing the same thing these past few. months.
This is your 20th season with Levi, Ray and Shoup as your primary sponsor. What does it mean to you to have had such success with that longstanding partnership?
TW: I have a tremendous sense of pride that we’ve had such a good partnership with Dick Levi for so long. He is a very successful business man, and we’ve been fortunate that he’s not just a fan of drag racing, but he’s also a fan of this team. We’ve had a good relationship over the years, and we sure appreciate everything he’s done for us. It means a lot to us to have that big LRS on the side of our car.
There has been a bit of a dry spell in terms of trophies for this team, is this your year?
TW: I sure hope so. We had such a great 2016, and then we had a series of small tragedies. It seems like we haven’t been able to fully bounce back and get to the winner’s circle again, but a lot of that has to do with the competition. It’s really hard to beat all that technology and advancement that those multi-car teams seem have in the bank on you. Other than that, we just haven’t done a good job in the finals, and we used to be so good there. That’s going to be one of my focal points this year, making sure every round is precise and we aren’t making mistakes. I’m a little mad at myself about that.
Your son, Daniel Wilkerson, will be tuning Blake Alexander’s Funny Car. Do you think this will help you in any way?
TW: Although we aren’t teammates with Blake, we do look forward to having some extra data from time to time. It will be a benefit to us every time Blake and the Pronto Auto
Service Center team shows up. We’re excited to see another Funny Car in the class and for Blake to have a team of his own and run those 12 races. Of course, it’ll be nice having Daniel out there, too. It should be an interesting season.
You’ll be in a brand-new Ford Mustang this year before too long. What are your thoughts on how this will affect your program?
TW: I'm proud to be included with Bob Tasca in the Ford Performance program beginning this year. We've been running a Ford body since 2009, and we earned 10 of our 20 wins with the Mustang. I'm real excited about getting a chance to not only be involved with Ford again, but also to run the newest Ford Mustang body. Our involvement with Ford Performance will allow us to have support similar to what a multi-car team has. The input of Ford Performance and their engineers will definitely be an asset to our program.