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| Wilkerson Dominates Funny Car |
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Written by Randy Fish |
 Springfield, Illinois, veteran Tim Wilkerson used a home track advantage at Madison, Illinois' Gateway International Raceway and dominated the competitive Funny Car class at the O'Reilly Midwest Nationals. For the fourth time in seven events this year, Wilkerson qualified his Levi Ray & Shoup nitro-burning Impala SS in the number one spot and consistency paid off on race day.
In the first round of Eliminations, "Wilk" took out Tony Bartone in Jim Dunn's Canidae Natural Pet Foods Impala SS with a 4.828/322.88 mph charge. The Quarter-Finals pitted him against Del Worsham's Checker-Shuck's-Kragen Impala SS where Wilkerson prevailed with an almost identical 4.826-second run at 310.20 mph. In the Semi-Finals, Tim disposed of defending champion Tony Pedregon's Impala with another bracket-like time of 4.829 seconds at 314.83. The best came last as Tim's Final-Round opponent was first-year John Force Racing driver, Mike Neff, who earlier had won his first round of competition and continued to the exciting Final. Wilkerson and Neff left the starting line together and stayed close for the entire 1,320-foot track with Wilkerson getting the win 4.874 to Neff's 4.886. Earlier in the afternoon, fan favorite John Force scored his 1,000th round win. Tim Wilkerson's impressive victory put him at the top of the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series point standings with 17 races left to be contested.
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