When a well-advertised weather system moved into the Bristol area, creating a rain delay which caused the final 2:30 p.m. qualifying session to be run closer to 7:00, one might think it ended up being one for the aged. Instead, it was one of the ages. The many loyal fans who stuck it out, wet or dry, were able to witness a Funny Car session that was all thrills.
Tim Wilkerson, who entered the final session in the No. 9 spot, drove his Levi, Ray & Shoup Shelby Mustang to a huge 4.087, and at the time that was good enough for the No. 2 spot. In the end, team after team took shots at a tight and cool race track, and many connected in big ways. No one, though, connected quite like Bob Tasca, who made the final pass down the track and clocked in at a stout 4.056 to grab the top spot.
Wilk will face Melanie Troxel in round one on Sunday.
“Our first lap today was one of the most important of the year, to tell you the truth,” Wilk said. “We ran a 4.206 and I’m sure people thought ‘Well that’s nice’ because it went right down the track but we didn’t improve over Friday night, but man did we improve the way the car ran. It went down there almost exactly like we wanted it to, and it reacted to the changes we’re making even better than I had hoped. We may have only run 4.20, but there were some high-fives in the pit and at the top end. That was a big step forward.
“We took that data and got even a little more aggressive for the last run. In the end, the big rain delay really helped the teams and it gave the fans who stayed a treat, because we were supposed to run right in the middle of the afternoon. To run at around 7:00 turned it into a home run session, so we tuned it up, played with the clutch, and it just flew. Great run, and we’re happy to be in the top half and racing on Sunday.”
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