Whatever you might have paid to watch the pro action on Saturday in Richmond, you got your money's
worth. Despite some lingering drizzle and a few renegade rain drops earlier in the day, both pro
sessions were run and the cool/overcast conditions made for ultra-stout racing, lap after lap.
On his first pass, Tim Wilkerson drove his Levi, Ray & Shoup Shelby Mustang to a big 4.093 to go
from outside the field all the way up to the No. 2 spot. Coming back for the nightcap, Wilkerson
had slid all the way to 7th by the time he ran, so he simply stepped it up and posted the
third-quickest lap of the session, illuminating the scoreboard with a 4.052 for the No. 4 spot on
the ladder. In addition, he hit that number by running big speed, clocking in at 310.13 mph.
Wilk will face Cruz Pedregon in round one.
"That was a pretty good day for a lot of people, right there," Wilkerson said. "We're not the
quickest, but we're not far behind and we actually managed to pick up some of those new bonus
points here. If our math is right, and if I believe what I've been told because I don't really
have time to pay attention to this stuff, I think we might have gotten four of them. The first lap
was a pretty good one, because we weren't in after messing up last night and you have to decide if
you're thinking about just getting in or getting in high. We went for it a little, and got it in
there good.
"The next benefit after that lap was that we could use that data to lean on it a little more in the
late session. The track was getting better and better, so fast, we were actually struggling to
keep up with it with our tune-up changes. You'd make a decision, and it would get even better. I
guess we did okay, because the 4.05 was nice lap. Not the quickest, but we're right in there."
Team Wilkerson Racing
NHRA Nitro Funny Car
http://www.timwilkerson.com
