Tim Wilkerson will not be your 2011 NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car champion. Odds are, the best he can do from his current 10th spot in the points would be to rally at this weekend’s Auto Club Finals in Pomona in order to somehow get around John Force for the No. 9 spot in the final standings. Wilk enters the race 21 points behind the legendary 15-time Funny Car champ.
Wilkerson’s Pomona weekend will likely not be without important drama however, as he is apt to be in a position to directly impact the final outcome of the Funny Car championship by the time the lights go out on Sunday night. With four drivers involved in a legitimate “control your own destiny” battle for the crown, while two others hold outside shots at the title, the drama will more than likely be spread throughout the ladder on Sunday, and every contestant will face the responsibility of putting up their best shots.
“You have to respect what all those guys have done, because they’re all legitimate contenders, but you also have to respect the sport and make them earn it every step of the way,” Wilk said. “The fans want to see a fierce fight, so I doubt many of them want to see those top four or five guys all win easy walk-over races in the first round, and even though a win is a win, as a racer you want to earn what you get. Our goal is to see if we can pass Force, which won’t be easy at all, but we also have to make sure we race whoever is in the other lane like the championship is on the line for us, too.
“We can’t control how the ladder lines up, so there’s no telling what impact we can have. Heck, we have to get qualified first just to have any impact on this deal at all, so we’ll focus on that before we worry about beating someone on Sunday. If we’re good enough to be in the race, we’ll approach it like we always do and we’ll see what role we can play in this drama. It’s going to be a drama. There’s no doubt in my mind about that.”
Matt Hagan will enter Pomona in the top spot, although he holds a razor-thin lead of just one point over Jack Beckman. Cruz Pedregon is only 26 points behind while Mike Neff enters from the 4th spot, just 34 points out of the lead. Those four all have clear and realistic shots at the title, while Robert Hight and Ron Capps come into the race 71 and 72 points out, which means they’ll need some early help to make it happen. No matter how the ladder lines up on Sunday, the drama is sure to be compelling throughout the four-day event, starting with the first qualifying session on Thursday.
“Those little points, the ones you get for being one of the top three in every qualifying session, mean so much right now it’s kind of too crazy to even contemplate,” Wilkerson said. “You’d love to see the championship come down to the top two guys running each other in the final on Sunday, and the crowd would love that too, but even before we get to that point you’re going to see all those teams treating each qualifying run like it’s the final round. They can win or lose the fight with those little points.
“I hope the fans are dialed in on that, because a lot of the time people don’t see the drama during qualifying. This time, every lap is going to be incredibly important, so we can have some impact on that, too. If we can grab any of those little bonus points, we’ll be helping our cause and we’ll be making it harder for the guys at the top. There are a few of us in a real good position to do that.”
Indeed, there are a few drivers who currently can have a major impact on the top of the heap, despite the fact they are, themselves, not in the battle. Johnny Gray, who is not in the Countdown, is running as well as anyone. Wilk, Jeff Arend, Bob Tasca, and Force are all fully capable of being points earners during any qualifying session, as well. Each session will be replete with its own dramatics.
“We all have our own agendas this weekend, and for the Levi, Ray & Shoup team the number one item is to run our Shelby Mustang as fast as we can,” Wilk said. “If we run the best we can, we can make it tougher on everyone and make them earn it the hard way. That’s how we respect the sport and the people we race. We try to make everybody earn what they get against us.”
By the end of the Auto Club Finals, the world will know the identity of the 2011 Funny Car champion. How we get to that point will likely be one thrilling ride.
| 
|