After two rounds of qualifying today at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, NHRA POWERade Funny Car points leader, Tim Wilkerson is qualified ninth. Wilkerson started the day in the No. 2 spot based on his impressive 4.132 at 300.20 mph that he ran Friday night. But he was not able to better that time today and as several others improved, Wilkerson was moved down.
For the day’s first qualifying session the track was hot and greasy and very few cars made it down without smoking the tires. Wilk’s Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevy Impala SS was one of those cars that was able to make it to the end at 4.259 at 285.05 mph. The temperature cooled and the track improved for the evening run. On this pass Wilkerson ran 4.141 at 297.22 mph. But since several cars ran better, Wilkerson was bumped down to the ninth spot.
“The track was slick for our first pass,” said Wilkerson, “and we were really glad just to get down it. And we had hoped to do better on the second run but we put a hole out early. We’re trying some stuff. We’ve got a different injector we’re trying and we’ve got a different blower we’re trying. And I thought it would do better, I really did and it just didn’t run. But it’s okay, we’re still in the show and that’s what’s important.”
Tomorrow is not just an ordinary day of qualifying for a few Funny Cars. Eight of the best will be competing in the U.S. Smokeless Showdown and the talented Wilkerson is one of them. He will face Ron Capps in the first-round.
“We’ll go to the Showdown and see if we can get down the track ahead of Ron and whatever is, is. It’s going to be a tough race but I think we’ve got something for him though. We’ll just see how it goes.”
