Tim Wilkerson failed to fully negotiate a tricky Infineon Raceway track on Saturday, smoking the
tires at varying points on his two laps, but with nearly everyone slowing down after Friday's
mammoth late session, his No. 4 spot was in no danger of being altered. Wilk will race Jeff Arend
in the first round on Sunday.
"Just trying a little too hard, I guess," Wilkerson said. "With the sun out all day, it was a bit
of tightrope to get all the way down there without some tire spin, and on the first pass we just
wanted to see where the edge was. We found it, but on the last one we were trying pretty hard to
get down there with high teen, and it just wouldn't hold when the clutch locked up.
"We're going to have to tame this puppy down tomorrow, because if we go out there and smoke the
tires again it won't matter what qualifying slot we're in. The key thing is going to be when the
morning clouds burn off. Until they do, you'll be able to be really aggressive out there, but once
the sun comes out it's going to be just like today. Why do I expect the sun to burn off the clouds
about a minute before we run? You just know that's how it's going to go. We'll come out here
wearing jackets, we'll get ready, and we'll be in the lanes with the clouds still there, then as
soon as they play the national anthem it will burn off and everything will be different. We going
to have to be ready to react. The teams that react the best to the changing conditions will win."
Team Wilkerson Racing
NHRA Nitro Funny Car
http://www.timwilkerson.com
