Tim Wilkerson scored his first win of the season by racing to his third consecutive O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Northwest Nationals victory Sunday at Pacific Raceways.
clearpxl
Wilkerson won the Funny Car class and the other class winners included Del Worsham (Top Fuel) and Jason Line (Pro Stock).
“We’ve really got a good handle on this place for sure,” said Wilkerson. “This win really couldn’t come at a better time for this team. Hopefully we can stay on this roll and take it on to Brainerd and right into Indy (Mac Tools U.S. Nationals). This win is definitely a big morale boost for my team and really helps our position in the Countdown for sure.”
Wilkerson made a winning run of 300.53 mph to defeat Jack Beckman in the final with Beckman losing traction near mid-track. AHN | All Headline News
“I don’t know why, but I always seem to have a good car at sea level. Twelve consecutive rounds, three straight years, how much happier can you be?”
Wilkerson is just the second pro driver to win three times in a row at the Northwest Nationals — Tony Schumacher won a trio in Top Fuel dragster beginning in 2006.
Jason Line beat teammate Greg Anderson in the Pro Stock class.
“It’s so close that you have to be mistake-free to win, and we did that,” Line said after earning his second win in Kent.
Erica Enders had her bid to become the first woman to win in Pro Stock dashed in a terrific semifinal when she was edged by Anderson, 6.562 seconds to 6.570. While Enders had a top speed of 210.18 mph, Anderson ran 210.44. The two were dead even at 330 feet.
That only added to the disappointment for Enders, who has been to the finals twice this year and four times in her career without the historic win. The Seattle Times
In Top Fuel, Worsham earned his sixth victory of the season and 31st of his career by outrunning Tony Schumacher in the final round. Worsham, who posted a 3.891 at 316.38 in his Al-Anabi Racing dragster to hold of Schumacher’s 3.915 at 313.95 in his U.S. Army dragster, joined Ron Capps as the only drivers to win in both nitro categories at the Seattle track.
Worsham, who beat Ron Smith, Shawn Langdon, and Spencer Massey in the first three rounds, won in Funny Car here in 1999.
“It’s been unreal,” said Worsham, who extended his series points lead to 126 over second place Massey. “To watch this Al-Anabi team work is amazing. They gave me a great car that could win. This team is so detail oriented and just really good at what they do.” NHRA.com
| 
|