CHARLOTTE, NC. (September 10, 2013) -- It's that time of year. The first hint of cool autumn days, football games every weekend, kids back in school, and in the world of NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing, it's playoff time as the Countdown to the Championship begins this weekend, at the Carolina Nationals.
For Tim Wilkerson, the playoff push comes at a time when his Levi, Ray & Shoup team may not be certifiably scalding hot in terms of winning races, but the young group and their veteran leader are in the midst of a solid run of round wins, and that's exactly what a strong playoff push will demand. Wilk, who has advanced as far as the semifinals eight times this year, enters Charlotte having earned his way to the semis at the three most recent events. His 20-18 round record is already better than the 19-21 mark he posted for the season in 2012, and there are still six races left on the docket.
"It's been a long time, something like 49 races, since we won one of these things, but we're running better than we have in a long time and it's translating into round wins, so that's not a bad thing," Wilk said. "My guys work so hard, though, I'd really like to break through and get a Wally for them. They bust their tails every day, and it would be good for them to get to celebrate and feel the payback for all that effort.
"All we can do is keep following the formula, though, and down the stretch it was helping us rack up some rounds and hold onto our eighth spot in the standings. You'd think going to three straight semifinals in the last three races of the regular season would give you some leeway, but it was tense right to the end because the teams right around us were winning rounds too, and we couldn't seem to shake anyone. I'm excited to get going, and I know my guys are pretty pumped up about being in the playoffs, so we're ready to get after it."
Holding onto that eighth spot was worth a bit of an edge, for Wilk. He enters the Countdown 90 points behind Matt Hagan, who sits in the No. 1 spot, while Robert Hight and Del Worsham begin their quests 10 and 20 points behind Wilk, respectively. The reset of the points was big, considering Wilk finished the regular season not only 274 points behind Hagan in the top spot, but he also trailed Courtney Force, in seventh, by 48. He now trails Ms. Force by a mere 10 points. As the playoffs begin, the team that gets hot out of the gate can swing the standings wildly.
"The best chance we have is to make a move right away, while we're all bunched up like this," Wilk said. "Seriously, the team that starts out with a little hot streak can put themselves right in the middle of a championship hunt in just one day. That's the beauty of this system, and it's going to make these last six races great for the fans. For the drivers and the tuners, it's going to be fun and it's going to be stressful.
"It's that way in every sport, this time of year, so I think it's great that we have this extra level of stress and competition. It doesn't matter if your favorite football team gets into the playoffs as a wild card. All that matters is that they can get hot in the playoffs and win the Super Bowl. That's our goal, to be the underdog team that got in as a low seed and then took it to them in the playoffs."
In 2010, the Green Bay Packers entered the playoffs as a wild card team and ended the season holding the NFL Lombardi Trophy. Tim Wilkerson has no problem envisioning his group in a similar situation, holding the NHRA Mello Yello championship hardware aloft at the conclusion of this season. All his LRS squad needs to do is keep winning rounds. Snapping a lengthy losing streak wouldn't hurt, either.