NORWALK, Ohio – With only seven races remaining in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series regular season, many teams are starting to take inventory of their status as a top 10 points finish becomes the primary goal in order to land a spot in the Countdown to the Championship, NHRA’s six-race playoff.
While the competition is tight in all four classes, as many as eight drivers could find themselves in a heated battle for the final four spots in the Funny Car top 10.
Veteran racer Tim Wilkerson is one driver who is currently attached to the dreaded 11th spot, on the outside looking in.
However, the Springfield, Ill. racer can draw some confidence from the fact that it was about this time last year when a victory at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals provided the spark to move him out of the cut zone and into the playoffs.
Wilkerson hopes to summon the same magic this weekend and turn around the fortunes of his season at the Fifth annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals, June 23-26 at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park. Joining Wilkerson (Funny Car) as defending winners of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event are Larry Dixon (Top Fuel), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle).
“That was a pretty big deal, because we had won Gainesville in March but then went a whole bunch of races without doing too much,” Wilkerson said. “The race before Norwalk, in Bristol, we got to the final and lost to (John) Force when we had an engine malfunction, so we felt pretty good going into Norwalk but you never know if the success you had the week before will follow along with you or leave you stranded, if you know what I mean. To run so well there, and to beat John in the final was a big deal to us, and really got us into the thick of the Countdown thing. Before then, we were sort of hanging on by our teeth to stay in the Top 10.”
So far Wilkerson’s best effort this season behind the wheel of his Levi, Ray & Shoup Ford Mustang has been a final round effort at the VisitMyrtleBeach.com NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte, N.C. Lately some really strong qualifying efforts – including a second at Houston, third at Englishtown and fifth last weekend at Bristol – have been very encouraging for the team. However, on race day, bizarre things have been happening, resulting in more than their share of first round losses.
Wilkerson knows that he’ll need to turn his qualifying excellence into race day excellence to gain the points he’ll need to jockey with the competitors who are also hungry to grab one of those top 10 spots, including Johnny Gray, Ron Capps, Jim Head and Tony Pedregon to name a few.
“Well, nobody is going to back up and hand us a spot, so we’re going to have to run a little better on Sunday to make it, and I think we're about ready to do that,” Wilkerson said. “Other than in Atlanta, we’ve been qualifying really strong lately, so that tells me we have a fast race car. On Sunday, that fast race car wants to get over-center on me every now and then, so we’re working on calming it down so we can win some rounds. Last year, the win in Norwalk really got us going, so maybe we can do that again.”
At Norwalk, for the second consecutive race, Wilkerson will have a teammate. His son Dan, who raced alongside him on Father’s Day in Bristol, will drive his Summit Racing Equipment Ford Mustang in Ohio. Dan qualified 16th at Bristol and lost in the first round to top qualifier Bob Tasca when his car broke after performing the burnout.
Wilkerson says while it adds a bit of stress and pressure to his tuning responsibilities during the race weekend, it’s really cool to have his son driving one of the team’s cars.
“It’s very special, and it’s something we’ve talked about and aimed for since he was a little kid,” Wilkerson said. “The first time we put him in a Junior Dragster, he went out there like he’d been doing it his whole life and was just cool as a cucumber. It might’ve only been a Junior Dragster, but the way he handled himself told me, right then, that the kid’s a racer. He's been that cool every step up the ladder, and just last weekend he went bracket racing, just for fun, and worked his way through six rounds to win the race in Havana, Ill. Can you tell I'm a proud papa? It’s a great deal to be able to race with Dan. I’m really proud of him.”
He looks forward to the day when Dan will be a full-time driver and join the ultra-competitive ranks of Funny Car, where it can be difficult to make the Countdown to the Championship. A host of strong frontrunners are leading the way this season including points leader Mike Neff, four-time winner Robert Hight, two-time world champ Cruz Pedregon and last season’s championship runner-up, Matt Hagan. You can never count out defending and 15-time world champ John Force, who currently sits eighth in the standings without a win. Wilkerson realizes the category is stacked with talent.
“Right now, we have 15 or 16 really strong teams, and then some regional teams that come in and keep us honest,” Wilkerson said. “The thing is, the best teams out here now are better than ever, and that makes it tough. When we show up and start qualifying, the first thing on your mind is making sure you get in the show. There are no sure things.”
In Top Fuel, the Al-Anabi Racing tandem of Del Worsham and defending world champ Larry Dixon – who won his first race of the season last weekend at Bristol – hold down the top two spots. Spencer Massey and Antron Brown have won two races each this season and Morgan Lucas has won once. A few top drivers are patiently waiting for their first wins of the season, including Tony Schumacher, Doug Kalitta and Brandon Bernstein.
Jason Line is leading the way in Pro Stock with three victories behind the wheel of his Summit Racing Pontiac GXP. His teammate Anderson is the defending race winner as well as the defending winner of the K&N Horsepower Challenge, which is contested at this event. The 2009 world champ, Mike Edwards, is back to his winning ways, while Greg Stanfield has been a strong runner for several seasons. Rookie Vincent Nobile, national record holder Rodger Brogdon, Topeka winner Shane Gray and Bristol runner-up Erica Enders are all looking for more success in the 200 mph category.
* SCHEDULE: Full Throttle Drag Racing Series qualifying sessions are scheduled for 3:30 and 6 p.m. on Friday, June 24 and 11:40 a.m. and 2:15 p.m. on Saturday, June 25. Final eliminations begin at 11 a.m. on Sunday, June 26.
* TICKETS: Tickets are available for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals. Please call Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park at (419) 668-5555 or visit www.summitmotorsportspark.tix.com.
* ON TV: ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise two hours of qualifying coverage at 10 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, June 25. ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise three hours of eliminations coverage beginning at 8 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, June 26.
* LUCAS OIL SERIES: The Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals. also will feature competition in seven categories in the NHRA Lucas Oil Series, where the future stars of the NHRA Full Throttle Series are born. Lucas Oil Series qualifying begins at 8:30 a.m. on June 24. Lucas Oil Series eliminations begin at 8 a.m. on June 25 and continue through June 26.
* GET SCREENED AMERICA PRO MOD SERIES: NHRA’s popular Pro Mod touring series will make its seventh start of the 10-race 2011 season at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals. The series features some of the world’s fastest and most unique doorslammer cars, with an eclectic mix of vintage and late-model body styles, in quarter-mile competition. Two of three scheduled rounds of qualifying will be held on Friday, June 24 at 3:30 and 6 p.m. The final round of qualifying is set for 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 25. The first round of eliminations is scheduled for Saturday, June 25 at 1:40 p.m. Eliminations will continue on Sunday, June 26 at approximately 2:30 p.m.
* ON THE WEB: Get live timing, scoring, multimedia and the latest news updates from every NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event on the Internet at www.nhra.com. Visit the official NHRA pages on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
