No driver with his hands on the steering wheel of a funny car is running better than Tim Wilkerson.
The driver of the Levi, Ray & Shoup Shelby Mustang has won the last two events and will go for his third straight this weekend in the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway.
"More than anything our car needs to be consistent," said the driver and crew chief. "The track was repaved so that could cause some issues for fuel cars in the later rounds. The NHRA makes sure all our tracks are as good and safe as they can be. The asphalt could be a little slippery so there might not be a lot of miles per hour out there."
Tim Wilkerson drove his Levi, Ray and Shoup Shelby Mustang during a run earlier in the season. The driver and crew chief has won the last two funny car events heading into Brainerd International Raceway. Wilkerson Racing
Seven different drivers have won so far in 15 events with five of those winning twice or more. The level of talent in the Funny Car series is why Wilkerson believes he struggled at the beginning of the season.
"We started out a little bit soft, but we weren't having bad races," said Wilkerson. "The first weekend we didn't make it down the track, but outside of that we ran into the semifinals four or five times before breaking through. Our car is really coming around, but the competition is tougher than ever. There are a good 10 to 12 teams that could win any race at any time. I believe this is the toughest class out there."
Wilkerson showed he is one of those 10 or 12 teams as he returned to his winning ways with a victory over points leader Tony Pedregon July 19 in the NHRA Northwest Nationals in Seattle.
The two dueled again a week later in Sonoma, Calif. with Wilkerson picking up his second straight win.
Tim Wilkerson
That climbed the 14-time winner into fourth in the Funny Car season points standings, 182 points behind Pedregon.
"We're going to try to maintain our consistency and hopefully be racing the right people at the right time," said Wilkerson. "I call it racing luck. Sometimes you have a good car, but you get the wrong draw. The only guy who could have beat you was the guy you are racing against in the quarterfinals. Sometimes you get in those modes and you can't get out of them. You have to hope lady luck is shining on you."
Tim Wilkerson
Category: Funny car
Hometown: Springfield, Ill.
Age: 48
Sponsor/Car: Levi, Ray and Shoup Shelby Mustang
Crew Chief: Tim Wilkerson
Career wins: 14
2009 wins/final rounds: 2/2
Current points standing: Fourth
That's what happened to Wilkerson last year as he entered the Countdown to the Championship in the top spot only to be knocked out by a first round loss to John Force at Ponoma 2, officially ending his bid for the title.
Despite the end of the season disappointment, Wilkerson enjoyed a career year winning six times in seven final-round appearances. His win total was one more than his previous 11 years combined.
"It probably goes back three years ago with getting the right people working on the right parts of the car," said Wilkerson. "That enables me to make better judgment calls on race day. Also an influx of more money than we've ever had helped. That's the same thing going on this year. With a little luck, the right people and the money anything is possible.
"We learned every race in the countdown. We won two of the races, but Cruz (Pedregon) won three out of the six and he did a better job down the stretch. No other team had more than one win other than Cruz and I. We just left the door open a little and he did the best job. I'm not disappointed about our championship run. The best car obviously won. We'll just do something different this year."
JEREMY MILLSOP may be reached at jeremy.millsop@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5856.
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