Wilk Looks to Maximize at zMax
Posted by: Team Manager Bob Wilber
CHARLOTTE (September 8, 2014) -- The 2014 NHRA Countdown playoffs begin this weekend, with the running of the Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway in Charlotte, and Tim Wilkerson will be a part of the postseason. It wasn't easy, and at times it wasn't pretty, but Wilk secured his berth on the final day of the regular season and he will enter the playoffs from the No. 10 spot. With the reset in points, he will now be only 110 points out of the top spot, held by John Force, with six playoff races left to contest.
Wilk and Jack Beckman tussled regularly down the stretch, with each jostling for the final spot in the Countdown field, and yet neither seemed capable of truly taking charge to control their own destiny. Perhaps fittingly, Wilk actually secured his playoff position when Beckman smoked the tires in round one at Indy, losing to upstart Blake Alexander. A few pairs later, Wilk also lost traction in his Levi, Ray & Shoup Shelby Mustang, but the playoff berth was already in the bank by then. Still, now that the Countdown is upon him, Wilk looks to make the most of the opportunity, beginning in Charlotte this weekend.
"We always say that, when you're qualifying, 16th isn't very good but it's way better than 17th, and the same goes for the Countdown," Wilk said. "10th place isn't as good as we'd like, but 11th is way worse and somehow, over the course of 18 races, we managed to hold the spot. I spoke with Jack after we both lost, and he was really gracious, but the truth is both of us don't have to look very hard to find a few dozen moments we'd like to go back and do better.
"We're in it, though, and it's time to turn up the dial and find the aggressive race car we had earlier in the summer. We have absolutely nothing to lose, so there's no holding back and no being conservative. We can't finish the season any worse than where we are right now, so there's no reason not give it everything we have, and that's the only philosophy we'll follow. We're like the wild-card team that just sneaks into the playoffs, with a record that doesn't wow anyone, but once the playoffs start anything can happen and maybe we can surprise some people."
Wilk's regular season round record ended up at 14-18, and his points position throughout the regular season ranged from a low of 15th immediately after the opener in Pomona, to a high of 8th after a semifinal finish at the 4-Wide race on the same Charlotte track he'll be visiting this weekend. He slipped to ninth at the next race, in Houston, and then stayed in 9th, 10th, or 11th for the remainder of the regular season, keeping Beckman at bay from the 10th spot for the final five regular-season events.
With the points being reset, Wilk now finds himself just 10 points behind Del Worsham, and the 110-point climb to catch Force resembles more of a mole hill than the mountain he faced in the regular season. The path to the top is a tough one, but it boils down to six rounds of racing, with six races left.
"Like I said, it's all on the table now," Wilk stated. "We can make something out of this season, and I know what my guys are really focused on, and that's winning a race. I think they're way more focused on that than on us picking up a round and finishing ninth. I'm focused on it, too, because it's been way too long and this team really deserves the payback. Most of these guys only know what it feels like to be in a final, but they don't know what it's like to win one."
Winning a race and moving up in the standings are certainly not mutually exclusive goals. Doing the former would most certainly provide the latter, and Wilk aims to maximize his chances during the postseason. It all begins this weekend at zMAX Dragway.
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