WILKERSON WHIPS FUNNY CAR CLASS AT GATORNATIONALS

WORLD SERIES FAVORITE TAKES FIRST NHRA WIN OF THE SEASON

Fan favorite and World Series of Drag Racing Funny Car contender, TIm Wilkerson scored his first NHRA Funny Car class win on Sunday, March 14 at the Gatornationals in Gainesville, Florida. "Consistency was the key to victory, said Wilkerson, sometimes your the quickest car and lose early and other times everything lines up for a victory" he continued.

Wilkerson was racing with the new ’10 Mustang body on his Levi, Ray & Shoup entry and was steady and strong during eliminations, capping the day with a 4.09 to 4.19 defeat of defending Gainesville winner Bob Tasca III. The victory is Wilkerson’s 14th and his first at the historic Gatornationals.

“When you run well and you run consistent, people will show you enough respect to try pretty hard against you,” said Wilkerson, who credits a switch from a three-rail to a two-rail chassis with helping him win. “We did have a good day today. I’m not going to say we were world-beaters, but we made some pretty darn good runs to keep them on their toes".

Wilkerson earned a spot in the 21st final of his career when he defeated Tony Pedregon in the semi-final round. Tony Predreon will also be attending the O'Reilly Auto Parts 57th World Series of Drag Racing in August at Cordova.