Tim Wilkerson Out Early on Race Day After Solid Qualifying Effort

CONCORD, NC – Veteran racer Tim Wilkerson entered his 575th professional event fresh off of a runner-up finish from the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at Las Vegas two weeks prior. Wilkerson’s Las Vegas performance allowed him to reach the final round for the 50th time in his career, and he was hoping to carry that momentum into the Circle K NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway, the second of two four-lane events on the NHRA schedule.

Wilkerson opened the Concord, N.C. race weekend by powering the SCAG Power Equipment/Okuma Ford Mustang to the third-quickest pass of the first qualifying round, earning a bonus point in the process. From there, he went on to clock three more three-second passes, including a 3.899-second at 330.55 MPH run – the fourth-quickest of the final session – to settle into the eighth seed on the Funny Car ladder.

After a lengthy hours-long rain delay, Wilkerson and the SCAG/Okuma team pulled up to the starting line on Sunday afternoon ready to battle it out against Bob Tasca, Ron Capps, and Dave Richards in round one of eliminations. Wilkerson was the first of his quad to step on the throttle, but traction issues early into the run caused him to slow to a 5.276 E.T. while Capps and Tasca drove away with the win to advance into the second round.

“Well, what can I say about this weekend. It had a bit of everything and threw a lot of curveballs at us. We had all the delays on Friday and that is tough. We make the calls on what we want to run based on the schedule and these long delays can get really tricky,” Wilkerson explained, referring to the wet weather and track surface, which delayed qualifying by several hours on Friday evening.

“We are running some new parts and pieces in the car and we are getting it dialed in. We got a little better E.T. with every run. These new parts are coming off of Okuma machines, and I’m really proud that we ran their branding on the car this weekend,” added Wilkerson of the Charlotte-based company, which will appear as a major associate sponsor on the Maynard Wilkerson Racing Ford Mustang at four additional events in 2023. “The folks that I got to meet from that company were all top-tier. And even though we went out and had a pretty tough weekend, our friends from SCAG stayed around through the weather and the delays, and we got to have a fantastic time with their dealers and distributors. I appreciate all of the support that these folks bring to the track and am so blessed to represent these great organizations.”

Wilkerson and the Springfield, Ill.-based SCAG Funny Car team compete next at the Route 66 NHRA Nationals at their home track, Route 66 Raceway, in Joliet, Ill., May 19-21.

Qualified: No. 8 (3.899 E.T. at 330.55 MPH)

Elimination Round Results:
E1: 5.276 E.T. at 170.86 MPH defeated by Ron Capps 3.885 E.T. at 333.57 MPH, Bob Tasca 3.891 E.T. 321.35 MPH