Wilkerson Ready to Battle for First Bristol Dragway Trophy on Sunday

Bristol, TN – Route 66 NHRA Nationals Funny Car event champion Tim Wilkerson was looking to go back-to-back and pick up his second win of the season at last weekend’s New England Nationals in Epping, N.H. He placed sixth on the New England Dragway ladder after an abbreviated qualifying show and was ready to take on John Force in the first round. Unfortunately for Epping fans, Mother Nature had other plans, and eliminations were postponed until this weekend’s Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn.

After the first qualifying session at Bristol Dragway, Wilkerson lined up next to Force during Q2 and what was also the first round of Epping eliminations. Against the sport’s winningest driver, Wilkerson drove the SCAG Power Equipment/Levi, Ray & Shoup Ford Mustang to the finish line in 4.004 seconds, but Force’s near-psychic .006 reaction time allowed him to cross the beams first despite posting a slower 4.063 E.T.

“With everything that the weather threw at us in Epping, I was really looking forward to getting to Bristol to enjoy some better weather and have a chance to go back-to-back after my team’s win in Chicago,” said Wilkerson, a 23-time Funny Car event champion. “These guys work so hard and I’m really proud of them and the momentum we have going. It just didn’t go my way yesterday. John Force is my favorite driver to race against and in the battle of the old guys, he left with a .006 light to take the win. Reaction times like that are just tough to beat. I felt really confident in the tune-up I put in the car and was ready to go three more rounds but instead, we made sure we gained some good information for race day today, and we’re looking forward to putting on a great show for our friends at SCAG, and all of these awesome fans here in Bristol.”

Without the added pressure of needing to defeat the car in the opposite lane, Wilkerson was able to hone in on perfecting his tune-up during Saturday’s remaining qualifying runs. During the third session, he powered his Maynard Wilkerson Racing SCAG/LRS machine down the Bristol Dragway track in 4.067 seconds to earn three bonus points for posting the quickest run of the session.

Wilkerson, last year’s Bristol runner-up, and the SCAG/LRS team will start race day at the Thunder Valley Nationals from the No. 6 seed and will take on Dale Creasy Jr. in the first round of eliminations on Sunday.

Qualified (Epping):  No. 6 (4.766 E.T. at 170.88 MPH)

Epping Elimination Round Results:
E1: 4.004 E.T. at 318.99 MPH defeated by John Force 4.063 E.T. at 324.36 MPH

Qualified (Bristol): No. 6 (4.004 E.T. at 318.99 MPH)