Maynard Family Racing
Tim Wilkerson Records Season-Best E.T. En Route to Semifinal Finish at Dallas
ENNIS, TX – Tim Wilkerson may have lost his semifinal match with Matt Hagan at the Texas NHRA Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex, 
but a season-best elapsed time in Sunday eliminations gave the driver/tuner of the SCAG Power Equipment/Levi, Ray & Shoup Ford Mustang a confidence boost. Knowing he has a Maynard Wilkerson Racing hot rod that can consistently run in the 3.80-second range, Wilkerson is already looking forward to the next race as the 2023 NHRA Camping World Series season starts to wrap up.
In qualifying, Wilkerson started the weekend with a strong baseline run in Friday’s first session before laying down a 3.884-second pass at 317.80 MPH to go into Saturday as the provisional No. 7 qualifier. He had to lift off the throttle in the third session on Saturday, but came back in the final session and recorded a 3.879 E.T. to qualify No. 9 in a nearly all-3-second field.
Wilkerson was one half of NHRA’s Funny Car marquee matchup with Alexis DeJoria. It was a nailbiter, as Wilkerson had the starting line advantage while DeJoria had traction issues, but Wilkerson encountered his own issues late in the run. He held on to get the win, but lost lane choice to Bob Tasca III in the second round. That didn’t matter, though, since Wilkerson used a season-best 3.866-second performance to power past Tasca and his 3.921 E.T. Wilkerson’s SCAG Power Equipment entry slowed a bit in the semifinals, dropping a side-by-side race with Matt Hagan.
Tony Schumacher Comes Up Short in Battle of ‘Texan vs Texan’ at Dallas Fall Nationals
ENNIS, TX – Top Fuel’s winningest driver has a long history of success at the Texas Motorplex located outside of Dallas, and he was looking 
for more Motorplex magic on Sunday at the Texas NHRA Fall Nationals as he sought to pick up his first win of the year. Tony Schumacher has enjoyed a recent late-season performance boost, which saw him advance to the semifinals at two out of the first three playoff events. The Austin resident was hoping to take it one round further at the Ennis, Texas facility but traction issues during round one of eliminations ended Schumacher’s day early, preventing him from making a run at a seventh Dallas trophy.
Aboard the SCAG Power Equipment Top Fuel dragster, Schumacher’s weekend began with a solid 3.739-second baseline run right out of the trailer on Friday afternoon. On Friday night, he clocked his best E.T. and speed of the season when he lit up the scoreboards with a 3.690 E.T. at 333.46 MPH. With the unseasonably cool temperatures, many of his competitors also took advantage of the favorable conditions and despite the good run, Schumacher found himself in 10th at the end of the session.
Tim Wilkerson Misses Out on Illinois Sweep with Early Loss at NHRA Midwest Nationals
Madison, IL – NHRA Funny Car veteran Tim Wilkerson was aiming for a second win in his home state of Illinois this season at the NHRA 
Midwest Nationals but fell short of his goal on race day. Wilkerson has had previous success at World Wide Technology Raceway, the home track for the Maynard Wilkerson Racing SCAG Power Equipment/Levi, Ray & Shoup Ford Mustang Funny Car team, including two runner-up finishes and a 2008 event win.
Wilkerson, who won the event in Joliet, Ill. near Chicago earlier this year, started the weekend off with a strong pass in the opening qualifying session when he posted a run of 3.982 seconds at 321.04-MPH on Friday night. He followed that on Saturday with a qualifying effort of 4.017 seconds at 317.27, which held up to be the best E.T. of the session, earning him three bonus points in the process. When qualifying concluded, the team was in the 10th position and matched with fellow championship contender Ron Capps in the first round.
In eliminations, Wilkerson was looking for a win light versus Capps, but his opponent’s quicker reaction time enabled him to cross the finish line beams first, with Capps’ 3.998 E.T. defeating Wilkerson’s quicker 3.977-second run.
JCM Racing to Introduce Leatherwood Distillery to NHRA Fans at St. Louis
CLARKSVILLE, TN – As the NHRA Countdown to the Championship intensifies, JCM Racing is proud to welcome a new associate 
marketing partner, Leatherwood Distillery, to its roster. Leatherwood Distillery branding will appear on Tony Schumacher’s SCAG Power Equipment Top Fuel dragster and Tim Wilkerson’s SCAG Power Equipment/Levi, Ray & Shoup Ford Funny Car beginning with this weekend’s NHRA Midwest Nationals near St. Louis.
“This new partnership brings together two of my favorite things – sipping Tennessee bourbon and watching the JCM Racing cars go down the track,” said Joe Maynard, team owner, JCM Racing. “I’m really excited about what Leatherwood Distillery is doing and what they represent. I couldn’t be prouder to introduce this brand to the NHRA community at St. Louis and beyond.”
Leatherwood Distillery, a Clarksville, Tenn.-based distiller of bourbon, rye, moonshine, rum, and other spirits, was founded by retired Green Beret Andrew Lang. While serving in Afghanistan, Lang built a homemade still that he would use to clean water for drinking. When he wasn’t purifying water, he would distill moonshine using locally sourced ingredients like corn, wheat, rolled oats and dried molasses. After retiring from the Green Berets, Lang started distilling craft spirits back home in Nashville. He then launched Leatherwood Distillery, where he distills spirits like 911 Apple Pie Moonshine, Check Point Rye Whiskey, Jalapeno Lemon Rum, and Vanilla Whip Moonshine.
Tim Wilkerson Hits Hot Track Too Hard at NHRA Carolina Nationals
CHARLOTTE, NC- After making one of the best passes in the first round of eliminations at the betway NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX 
Dragway, Tim Wilkerson got a little too aggressive in his second-round match with Matt Hagan on Sunday afternoon. The hot track couldn’t hold Wilkerson’s SCAG Power Equipment/Levi, Ray & Shoup Ford Mustang Funny Car, marking the end of Wilkerson’s time at the second event of the six-race NHRA Countdown to the Championship.
Wilkerson, who is competing in his 15th Countdown, opened qualifying with a 3.900-second lap to end Friday as the provisional No. 4 qualifier. He improved to a 3.876 E.T. in the second session before driving into tire smoke nearly immediately in the third and final qualifying session, ending up No. 7 on the final qualifying order.
The first round of Funny Car eliminations on Sunday morning saw numerous higher qualified drivers bow out. Wilkerson emerged unscathed, though, as he left the line first against No. 10 qualifier Cruz Pedregon and laid down a 3.918-second pass at 329.91 MPH to beat Pedregon’s tire-smoking 4.822 E.T. He was the third-quickest driver of the round, but not quick enough to get lane choice over Matt Hagan in the second round. There, Wilkerson left first by .002 seconds and held an early lead before losing traction and lifting to a 4.543 E.T., while Hagan won with a 3.996-second pass.
Tony Schumacher Out Early, but Undeterred
CHARLOTTE, NC – After a get-healthy weekend in Reading, Pa, which saw Tony Schumacher advance three spots in the Top Fuel standings 
thanks to a strong qualifying performance and semifinal finish, the Mike Neff/Jon Schaffer-tuned SCAG Power Equipment team was looking to carry their newfound momentum down to Concord, N.C. for the betway NHRA Carolina Nationals.
At the second event of the six-race NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoff series, Schumacher and the SCAG team continued to run strong. Right out of the trailer, they unloaded with a 3.700-second pass, their quickest of the season, in the opening session on Friday night. During the third and final qualifying round, the team backed up their Q1 run by once again resetting their season-best E.T. The SCAG dragster blasted down the track with header flames high through the 1,000-foot beams to post a 3.692 E.T., placing them sixth on the Top Fuel ladder.
Armed with the advantage of lane choice, Schumacher drew No. 9 qualifier Shawn Langdon as his first-round opponent on Sunday morning. The two Top Fuel world champions were the first pair to hit the track on race day and while they left close together and were dead-even by the time they approached the 330-foot marker, Schumacher’s machine started to lose traction near the eighth mile, opening up the door for his opponent to pull away for the win.
Tony Schumacher Kicks Off NHRA Countdown with Semifinal Finish at Reading
READING, PA – After a regular season filled with struggles, eight-time NHRA Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher kick-started his 
Countdown to the Championship campaign with a get-healthy weekend at the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway. His Reading, Pa. outing included a consistent qualifying effort and successful race day that saw Schumacher and the SCAG Power Equipment dragster move on to the rain-delayed semifinals on Monday morning.
Schumacher ran into tire smoke early in his first qualifying attempt on Friday, but he came back in the second session and laid down a smooth 3.737 E.T. at 328.54 MPH to sit eighth going into Saturday. His 3.755-second pass was the third-quickest run of the third session on Saturday, earning one bonus point. The five-time Reading winner rounded out qualifying with a 3.749-second effort in the final session, settling into the No. 9 position for Sunday eliminations. It was one of Schumacher’s best overall qualifying performances of the season.
In the first pair of Top Fuel eliminations after the national anthem on Sunday morning, Schumacher lined up with No. 8 qualifier Austin Prock. Schumacher was first off the starting line by a few thousandths of a second and led the whole way, winning with a 3.701 E.T. to Prock’s 3.716 E.T. Schumacher then faced fellow JCM Racing driver and points leader Justin Ashley in the second round. Schumacher moved first again, and it was enough of a holeshot advantage to beat Ashley’s quicker 3.707-second pass with a 3.716 E.T.
Tony Schumacher on Bad Side of Good Drag Race at U.S. Nationals
Indianapolis, IN – Despite making steady progress all weekend, Tony Schumacher found himself on the bad side of a good drag race on 
Monday morning at the NHRA U.S. Nationals, the final event of NHRA’s regular season. Aboard the SCAG Power Equipment Top Fuel dragster, Schumacher secured a spot in the 16-car field by clocking three solid runs during qualifying with his best run, a 3.784 E.T. at 326.79 MPH, slotting him in the No. 12 seed out of 19 cars vying to get into the show.
The 10-time U.S. Nationals event champion drew No. 5 qualifier Mike Salinas as his first-round opponent on race day. Schumacher moved first to claim the holeshot advantage but his opponent had pulled ahead by the time they reached the 330-foot marker. The SCAG machine started creeping up on Salinas and had him almost reeled in by the time they approached the 1,000-foot beams, but Salinas powered across the finish line first to score the narrow victory, which saw Schumacher come up short by just five-thousandths of a second.
SCAGS POWERED LEVI, RAY AND SHOUP FORD MUSTANG HEAD TO THE BIG GO!
Indianapolis, IN – Tim is one of eight drivers to have qualified for the 2023 Pep Boys All-Star Funny Car Callout specialty event, scheduled 
for Sunday.
A two-time winner in three final round appearances in 2023, Wilkerson begins the weekend occupying the No. 7 position in the Funny Car rankings, and with points-and-a-half up for grabs, is looking to close out the weekend inside the top five.
Tim Powered to his first final round appearance at the 1997 Indy event but was defeated by Whit Bazemore.
Wilkerson was awarded his first No. 1 qualifier at Indy during the 1998 race.
Tim explains his feeling about Indy, “Really looking forward to having a good weekend at Indy. This weekend’s points-and-a-half format means a lot to us. We’re seventh currently and with the points pretty tight like they are in the middle, we have an opportunity to make a pretty big move to get us ready for the Countdown. If we have a really good weekend, we could move up to fourth or fifth. So, we’ll go out there and do the best we can but I have a really good track record at Indy and I’m looking forward to continuing that surge. In addition to competing for the big trophy on Monday, we qualified for the Pep Boys Callout and that should be a good time; its so great for the fans. I can’t wait to get back to Indy and get this weekend started.”
10 TIME INDY CHAMP SCHUMACHER LOOKING FOR HIS ELEVENTH
Indianapolis, IN – With an unprecedented 10 U.S. Nationals victories, Schumacher is the winningest Camping World Series driver in 
Indianapolis history . He made hde his Top Alcohol Funny Car debut at the 1995 event and advanced to the final round in 1996 during his Top Fuel debut season.
Team minority owner Don Schumacher captured his first NHRA win during the 1970 U.S. Nationals race.
“I love Indy. It’s where I got my start racing in Top Fuel. I’ve had so much success there and nothing would be better than to have a good get-healthy weekend at a facility that’s been so good to me over the years. Our SCAG Top Fuel team is coming off of a beautiful test session where the car performed like it should. The crew is full of confidence, I’m full of confidence, and we feel good. It’s going to be a great weekend and we’re ready to put on a great show.” expressed Tony.
