READING, PA – As the No. 3 qualifier at the Mopar Express Lane NHRA Nationals, Tim Wilkerson outpaced all but two nitro Funny Cars after three rounds of qualifying at Maple Grove Raceway. In the final session the Levi, Ray & Shoup Summit Racing Equipment Ford Mustang posted the second quickest run collecting two qualifying bonus points and moving Wilkerson from the No. 6 spot to the No. 3 position. He opened qualifying with a 3.932 second run so confidence was high for the team that last week won the most prestigious drag race in the country.

In the first round Wilkerson drew a tough opponent, the surprise No. 12 qualifier John Force, who struggled throughout qualifying. The team knew that would have to make another great run to advance to the quarterfinals. The conditions were comparable to qualifying and Wilkerson conferred with car chief Richard Hartman on a first round tune up he felt confident would get the job done.

Running behind No.1 qualifier Cruz Pedregon who was on a bye run due to a short field, Wilkerson and Force raced one of the closest Funny Car races of the day. Force was first off the line but Wilkerson quickly pulled up beside him as each 11,000 horsepower Funny Car hit half-track within two seconds.  Both race cars were hitting on all eight and Wilkerson crossed the finish line 3.892 seconds after he hit the throttle. It was one of the quickest runs of the first round but unfortunately his opponent was making the quickest pass of the event, 3.875 seconds. There was nothing wrong with Wilkerson’s run but the veteran driver just fell victim to tough racer luck.

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INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Battling through a tough line up composed of a rising star and three former world champions, Tim Wilkerson raced to his second NHRA U.S. Nationals title in front of a packed house today at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis. Driving and tuning his Levi, Ray & Shoup Summit Racing Ford Mustang with only one qualifying session under his belt, Wilkerson made consistent runs to earn his 21st career win and first in over five years.

“I go out there and just run the car,” said Wilkerson, in the media center after the final. “I just race the lane and I don’t really care who is in the other lane. I am an old guy. I have been here for 25 years. I was in the finals in 1997 and won in 2004. It scuffed a piston in 2012 when Mike Neff beat me. I was half a car ahead of him when it shut off. This place loves me. It really does. I usually run well here. I won a lot of races in my alcohol car here. This place and we have a good relationship. It always treats me well.”

“My guys are who I am really happy for,” said Wilkerson. “Most of the guys on this team besides Richard have never won a race period. Those guys are all new to me. That is what really makes me happy. I think we have been to six finals with all those kids, and I couldn’t get that monkey off my back.”

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BRAINERD, MN – A week after he had one of the toughest races of his career during the Topeka Nationals Tim Wilkerson and the Levi, Ray & Shoup Summit Racing Ford Mustang Funny Car team showed why they are a team that will be contending for the 2021 Funny Car championship. In the final qualifying session Wilkerson made one of the quickest passes of his career and set a new personal speed record running 334.40 mph to jump from eleventh to third in Funny Car qualifying. It was a monster run that set the team up for a first round match up with Jim Campbell the No. 14 qualifier.

The cool Minnesota conditions gave Wilkerson and car chief Richard Hartman the opportunity to put a lot of power to the racetrack on race day. The team picked up in the first round right where they left off from Saturday’s final qualifying session’s 3.883 second pass. Wilkerson was first off the starting line and never trailed in the race. It was an impressive run for a team that had to rebuild their race car last weekend and spent the week on the road to get ready for this event. His winning time of 3.934 seconds at 314.75 mph setup for a great quarterfinal race against J.R. Todd.

“That was a good run for the first round,” said Wilkerson. “We made a killer run last night and I knew conditions would be good this morning. You can’t take Jim Campbell lightly so we wanted to be sure we got down the track.”

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TOPEKA, KS – Tim Wilkerson and the Levi, Ray & Shoup Summit Racing Ford Mustang Funny Car team escaped the Menard’s NHRA Nationals presented by Pet Armor and will focus on the final two regular season races and the Countdown to the Championship. Wilkerson suffered one of the most bizarre incidents of his storied career during the second round of qualifying when his Funny Car lost cylinders and moved across the center line, eventually making contact with his qualifying partner Cruz Pedregon as the race cars slowed down at the top end. Both drivers avoided physical injury but each race car suffered significant damage.

Wilkerson’s team immediately pulled out the back-up car and set about refreshing it for the final qualifying session and eventually race day. The team along with assistance from Del Worsham, John Force Racing and a handful of other teams prepared their back-up car and began evaluating the damaged Funny Car.

“I can’t thank Del and the guys at John Force Racing for their help,” said Wilkerson. “We have to figure some things out and we are going to send this chassis back to Murf McKinney and see what we can do so we can avoid these kinds of incidents.”

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POMONA, CA – Running the  NHRA Winternationals in July proved to be a tough task for Funny Car driver Tim Wilkerson and the rest of the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series competitors. After two days of qualifying, race day began with teams getting their first runs on a track that started out twenty degrees cooler than anything they had seen at the event. The Levi, Ray & Shoup Summit Racing Ford Funny Car team was dealt another setback when a number of Top Fuel dragsters and nitro Funny Cars suffered motor failures that led to lengthy oildown delays. By the time Wilkerson was strapped into his cockpit, the majority of the tuning decisions were made and the track temperatures continued to rise.

Coming into the Winternationals Wilkerson had only one first round loss in traditional side by side competition this season. The wildly inconsistent track conditions forced the crew chief and driver to get creative with his tune-up adjusting the clutch package every run of qualifying trying to find a stable combination for the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona racing surface. In the final session of qualifying Wilkerson made a representative run and went into race day as the No. 13 qualifier and a first round race against two-time world champion Cruz Pedregon.

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SONOMA, CA – Tim Wilkerson’s full racing skillset was on display this weekend at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals. It was one of the toughest weekend’s for the driver, crew chef and team owner from Springfield, Illinois, as he battled tough qualifying conditions on Friday and Saturday followed by a Sunday that stretched his team’s abilities to the their limits. The Levi, Ray & Shoup Summit Racing Ford Funny Car team never lost their confidence or motivation to pick up their first win of the season.

In the second round of qualifying Wilkerson scuffed the wall disqualifying his run and sending the veteran driver and crew chief to the final qualifying session needing to step up the performance. Wilkerson and his team rose to the challenge making their quickest run of qualifying and jumping from the bottom half of the field to the No. 7 spot with a 3.997 second pass which was the third quickest run of the session.

Heading into race day Wilkerson and the Levi, Ray & Shoup Summit Racing team faced Jim Campbell and his Jim Dunn Racing entry. Wilkerson took off and was on a great run when his race car started spinning the tires and his engine was dropping cylinders. He worked the throttle to keep his momentum moving down track but the engine let go, erupting in fire before the finish line. The experienced driver was able to get his Mustang Funny Car safely stopped and he picked up an expensive but important round win.

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DENVER – Racing for his second NHRA Mile-High Nationals title this weekend had veteran driver Tim Wilkerson and the Levi, Ray & Shoup Summit Racing Shelby Mustang focused on consistent performance on the mountainside at Bandimere Speedway. Through three rounds of qualifying Wilkerson guided his team to improved performance every session. The LRS Summit Racing Shelby Mustang Funny Car picked up four qualifying bonus points for making the third quickest run of the second session and the quickest run of the final qualifying run. For his efforts Wilkerson was rewarded with the No. 3 qualifier and first round match-up with veteran Jim Campbell.

In the first round Wilkerson and Campbell both executed burnouts but before Campbell could stage he was shut off affording Wilkerson a single run to advance to the quarterfinals. The LRS Summit Racing Mustang Funny Car took nothing for granted posting a strong 3.996 second run at 322.88 mph.

In round two Wilkerson drew another tough competitor facing Paul Lee. Once again Wilkerson was a winner before he moved off the starting line as Lee jumped the start earning a red-light and disqualification. Wilkerson made a good run in the heat of the day earning his second win light with a 4.252 second pass.

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NORWALK, OH – Tim Wilkerson took the Levi, Ray & Shoup Summit Racing Shelby Mustang into the first round at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Motorsports Park as the No. 7 qualifier. He was facing a serious first round race against veteran Cruz Pedregon but Wilkerson felt he had a tune-up that would get the job done. In a tough race Wilkerson was unable to advance to the quarterfinals and will begin preparing for the grueling Western Swing in two weeks.

Two days of qualifying saw Wilkerson make a strong run on Friday night after a lengthy rain delay and cooler temperatures. His quickest run of the weekend was the 3.959 second pass that positioned him solidly in the field as the No. 7 qualifier. On Saturday temperatures dramatically warmed up and Wilkerson and his Summit Racing team worked to get a handle on a warmer tune-up. Two consistent runs in the heat positioned Wilkerson for a long race day today.

The veteran driver from Springfield, Illinois, got the jump on the starting line with a .050 reaction time versus Pedregon’s .067 and as both cars took off down the track they were side by side as they approached half-track. The Mustang Funny Car smoked the tires and was forced to watch as Pedregon pulled away for the round win. Wilkerson considered getting back on the throttle but thought better of that idea, cruising across the finish line with a 4.788 second run against Pedregon’s strong 3.973 second pass.

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EPPING, NH – The veteran driver from Springfield, Illinois, rolled into the TascaParts.com NHRA New England Nationals presented by Bandero Premium Brand Tequila with momentum from a semifinal finish two weeks ago. Over two days of qualifying  veteran driver and crew chief Tim Wilkerson continually improved the performance of the Levi, Ray & Shoup Summit Racing Shelby Mustang. The team rolled into the first round sitting No. 8 in qualifying and facing another first round match-up with Blake Alexander.

Two weeks ago Wilkerson drew Alexander in the first round and the veteran was able to get the win. Today Wilkerson was once again able to turn on the win light against the up and coming driver. When both cars leapt off the line Wilkerson’s race car moved out into the lead and Alexander’s car went into immediate tire smoke. Down-track Wilkerson’s Levi, Ray & Shoup Summit Racing Mustang began hugging the centerline but he was able to get it to the finish line for the win.

In the quarterfinals Wilkerson pulled up beside No. 1 qualifier Matt Hagan, who had won the previous three Funny Car titles at the New England Nationals. When the tree flashed, Wilkerson took off first and never trailed for the win. His winning time of 3.956 seconds was his quickest pass of the weekend and gave him lane choice headed into the semifinals.

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HOUSTON, TX – Tim Wilkerson and the Levi, Ray & Shoup Summit Racing Shelby Mustang battled the elements throughout the weekend at the NHRA SpringNationals at Houston Raceway Park. The veteran driver and crew chief lost one third of his qualifying opportunities when the Friday session was cancelled due to excessive rain the week leading up to the event. On Saturday Wilkerson was fortunate that he was able to get two shots at the race track before more rain moved in and cut the second round of Funny Car qualifying short. The Levi, Ray & Shoup Summit Racing Mustang was able to improve their qualifying position with a strong 3.975 second pass at 319.07 mph run in the second session that put the team in the No. 7 position heading into race day.

When eliminations began under darkening skies only six pairs of Top Fuel dragsters were able to make runs before a persistent light rain blanketed the race track and put race day on hold for most of the day. Unfortunately, track officials were not able to get the track into race condition before cooling temperatures forced the postponement of eliminations to today. It was a long and frustrating wait for all the competitors and NHRA fans.

“It is tough to wait when all you want to do is get out there and race,” said Wilkerson, from his lounge on Sunday. “We made a good run on Saturday in that last session and I think we can definitely duplicate that kind of elapsed time and maybe step it up.”

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