Championship Drag Racing

ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals
Las Vegas
(Oct. 23-26)

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Tim Wilkerson Levi Ray & Shoup Pontiac Firebird Funny Car

Reports: Sunday Saturday Friday Pre-race

Las Vegas, Sunday: Tim Wilkerson brought his "Full Assault Tour" to The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals and certainly made his mark in the Funny Car ranks.

Wilkerson had the No. 1 position after the opening qualifying session and landed his Levi, Ray & Shoup Pontiac in the No. 5 spot when qualifying was completed. This top half of the field position moved Wilkerson into the eighth position in the Budweiser Shootout point standings.

Wilkerson easily took out his first round opponent, Dean Skuza with a 4.901 second 314.75 mph run. This win moved Wilkerson ahead of Skuza into the No. 8 spot in the POWERade championship point standings. In the next round, Wilkerson faced Gary Scelzi. Scelzi had lane choice and put Wilkerson in the tougher right lane. The LRS Pontiac slowed to a 4.944 E.T. at 307.51 mph, which wasn't enough against Scelzi's 4.904-second run.

"We thought it would run a little faster than it did against Skuza," said Wilkerson, "so when we saw what it ran we thought we should step on it a little bit for Gary. We stepped on it just a little bit and it didn't respond worth a darn. It dropped a hole about three seconds into the run. I felt it lay down and Gary went truckin' by me.

"We're semi-satisfied with the weekend. We wish we had gone a little faster against Gary. It would have been nice to get by him. But all in all it was a good weekend. Every pass the car went down the track, so we're kind of getting the reputation of a team that doesn't screw up. And that's a good thing, because if we can keep from screwing up we'll get to go more rounds than we would if we're trying to knock their heads off."

Las Vegas, Saturday: Tim Wilkerson likes The Strip. The Levi, Ray & Shoup Funny Car always qualifies well here and the Third Annual ACDelco Las Vegas Nationals is no exception. And after this weekend's qualifying, the Springfield, Ill. native has another reason for liking The Strip.

Last night Wilkerson said that he should run a 4.80 in today's qualifying, and on the last pass, Wilkerson's prediction came true. On the day's first pass Wilkerson ran 4.913 at 313.58 mph and then came out on the last pass to run his prediction. But Wilkerson didn't expect to highlight his predicted 4.807 E.T. with his career best 322.50 mph at the same time.

"I told Fred (Mandolini) that I think we could run 320 today, but I didn't think it would go that fast," said an enthused Wilkerson. "It left a lot on the table again today. I'm kind of happy with that but at the same time I'm a little afraid that if I get after it too much, it will bite me."

Wilkerson, with his No. 5 qualifying position has lane choice over his first round opponent, Dean Skuza.

"We're going to go out there tomorrow and be a little conservative," said Wilkerson, "and hope that Skuza doesn't run an 85 and whoop us."

Las Vegas, Friday: Tim Wilkerson came to The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals expecting great performance out of the Levi, Ray & Shoup Funny Car; and at the close of Friday qualifying Wilkerson's hopes are high.

On the first qualifying pass, Wilkerson had his hands full keeping the LRS Pontiac from crossing the centerline but his expert driving skills turned the 4.935 second 311.85 mph run into the No. 1 qualifying spot for the session.

"There's a nasty bump out there in the right lane," said Wilkerson, "and you end up steering the daylights out of it. The car gets to bass boatin', you know that's when the ass end gets to swaying. You have to be careful down there."

As darkness settled over the desert and the temperature dropped for the second pass, Wilkerson improved to 4.868 at 317.34 mph on a clean, straight run.

"We thought it would run a little better than it did," said Wilkerson. "We were aiming for an 84, but we were pretty close. It gave away a lot in the middle. It didn't go one to one like we thought it would; it just kind of ate the clutch up out there in the middle. Anyhow we're working on it. We're going to lean on it tomorrow and I think we can run an 80 in the heat of the day. If we can do that, we'll be ready for Sunday."

Las Vegas, pre-race: When Tim Wilkerson began the 2003 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing tour, it was the first full season for Wilkerson in the Levi, Ray & Shoup (LRS) Pontiac Funny Car. As Wilkerson planned the season it became apparent that it should be labeled as the LRS "Full Assault Tour" and "full assault" has become the appropriate description of Wilkerson's year. With two races left in the year, Wilkerson is full-speed on his "Full Assault Tour."

To begin the season, the Springfield, Ill., native opened with a career-best 4.759 E.T. on the first qualifying pass at the 43rd Annual K&N Filters Winternationals. This gave Wilkerson the No. 1 qualifying position. From this highlight Wilkerson began to amass more stunning accomplishments as he traveled the tour.

To date Wilkerson's season includes:

"We started the season on a high with our No. 1 qualifying position," said Wilkerson. "Then we struggled until the western swing. It may not have been obvious, but that's when things started to come together and we began to run better. One of the reasons is the team. We added several new members this year and it took awhile for everyone to adjust to each other. They are now a complete team and the results are great. We'll have the same players next year, which is a definite advantage.

"Another reason is a parts issue. We started running a different brand blower and it has been a tremendous asset. It takes one variable out of our tuning decision. We used to wonder when to change the blower and now we get so many more runs out of it before we need to change it. We had 11 runs on the one that won Reading.

"The third reason is a motivational one. Around the middle of the season, Dick Levi called me and said he'd been watching me race and he thought I looked nervous. He told me to relax and that they are behind us and will continue to support us for as long as they can. Hearing that from someone on the outside makes you stand back and take a hard look at things. If Dick could see something wrong, it must be pretty obvious. So, I figured that we might as well relax and have fun."

Wilkerson is just a regular guy who runs a bustling auto repair shop during the week and loves to race in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series on the weekends. He is a sincere, hard-working, family man and winning races has very special meaning to him.

"Winning Indy was a dream come true," said Wilkerson. "It's such an important race and to be able to say that we won it is so cool. It also has extra meaning because my wife and kids and so many friends were there to share the win with us. It also did a lot for the morale of the team. We had raced nine weeks in a row and were exhausted. So the win came at a perfect time. It was just what the doctor ordered.

"When we won Reading, it showed that we really had what it takes and that Indy wasn't just a lucky break. Then there is the added bonus of keeping Dick excited about the race team. He let us use one of the LRS corporate jets to fly the team to and from Reading. And when we got off the plane at midnight, Dick and his wife Aggie were waiting for us in the hangar. We were so exhausted and they wanted to talk and hear all the details about the race. Dick kept saying how proud he was of the team. The next morning, Fred (Mandolini, consulting crew chief) called me to say what special people Dick and Aggie are and how lucky we are to have them supporting us."

Wilkerson's single car team stands out in an arena where multi-car teams have the advantage. He has accomplished feats this year that will go down in the record books. And with two more races left on the schedule, Wilkerson is still aiming to add more accomplishments to his "Full Assault Tour." So as the teams roll into The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals, Wilkerson is singing a line from a song that he and his sons often sing, "we're going to be a dark spot in everybody's day."