Springfield, Ill. Funny Car favorite wanted to have fun today at the Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park, and his wish came true. Wilkerson powered his Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevrolet Impala SS all the way to the semifinal round with stunning victories. Rest assured fun was had by Wilkerson, his talented team and the loyal fans enduring the Virginia heat.
In the first-round, Wilkerson scored a stunning victory taking out Countdown contender, Mike Ashley in a holeshot win. Wilkerson ran 4.876 against Ashley’s 4.866, but Wilkerson’s. 077 reaction time against Ashley’s. 120 gave Wilkerson a. 0335 second margin of victory. Wilkerson then had lane choice over Tony Pedregon. In another exciting race, Wilkerson scored a. 0013 second margin of victory with the quicker car. Wilkerson posted a 4.917 against Pedregon’s 4.928. Wilkerson advanced to the semifinal round again with lane choice. This time it was against Ron Capps. Again, Wilkerson left on his opponent but this time the outcome wasn’t in his favor. Wilkerson slowed to a 5.040 and Capps got the win with a 4.956.
“On the first run, I said we weren’t going to go slow I don’t care if it does smoke the tires, ” said Wilkerson. “And if we would have run a little faster early on our last run, we would have been in the finals. But I thought the track would be a little worse, so I tuned it down a little too much.
“Today is kind of what we’ve been looking for the last few races. I tried to be a little more focused and we had a good car. I knew we had a good car yesterday, I just hoped we could get to keep it up today. The guys did a great job and we’re proud of the car. And I guess I did a good job. I had my head on straight. We’re working good and the car is hitting good. I just decided to stop being a pansy and it worked. So, now we’re anxious to see how the next race goes. ”
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