Tim Wilkerson stepped up in a big way during Saturday’s first session, running low e.t. of the session with a 4.113 to not only grab three precious bonus points, but also vault himself 6 spots up the ladder into the No. 4 spot. Wilk had slipped from his 6th position down into 10th by the time he ran.
In the final session, he lifted early after sensing some problems, but little shuffling occurred in the order, so he will race out of the 4th position and will face Jim Head in the first round on Sunday.
“You know what, the car was talking to me and telling me what it wanted, so I told (car chief) Jeff Jacobs that we have to listen to it and make the changes,” Wilkerson said.
“We pecked away at it in Chicago last week, and it’s like we have a much better race car right now. We’re just trying to listen to it, and we’re not crazy so I don’t mean that literally, but if you listen to what the data is telling you, sometimes it will tell you exactly what it wants for it to run better. We’re trying to be good listeners right now.
“The 4.11 was really good run, one of our best of the year, but unfortunately I lifted early on purpose on the last one because we had one cylinder running so hot after the burnout I was pretty sure we’d tear it up down there if I legged it out. It was on a pace to maybe run 4.16 or around there, and that would’ve been right with the best runs of the session, so I feel pretty good about that. Now we just need to keep listening to the car and see if it can find its way to some round wins tomorrow.”
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