Tim Wilkerson believes he has aged quite a bit in the last few seasons.

The increased aging a result of being a throwback to the old days when professional nitro racers used to tune and drive their race cars in national event competition.

Wilkerson performs the demanding regimen not out of reverence for the old school but out of financial necessity.

Tim Wilkerson believes he has aged quite a bit in the last few seasons.

The increased aging a result of being a throwback to the old days when professional nitro racers used to tune and drive their race cars in national event competition.

Wilkerson performs the demanding regimen not out of reverence for the old school but out of financial necessity.

“It’s pure economics I guarantee you that,” Wilkerson said. “We have a good team and a good sponsor. We have a certain amount of money to spend. We look out there at the people you can hire. I really can’t afford to hire anybody that I think does a better job than me. Not that I want to pound my own chest because I never want to do that.”

The facts speak in the favor of the likeable fan favorite from Springfield, Ill., whose fans call themselves the Wilk Warriors. Wilkerson has 13 career national event victories and all but one has come in the fuel Funny Car ranks.

Half of those career nitro triumphs came last year when he finished second in the championship battle.

Those wins came with a substantially smaller budget than those of his fellow front-runners.

“For me to afford someone and pay them $200,000 to $300,000 just isn’t going to happen,” Wilkerson admitted. “Until we can get a larger sponsor and search out someone like that, I’m going to keep doing it. Hopefully some day we can do that because it’s wearing me out. I’m getting older every second.”

Waiting in the wings is Wilkerson’s son Daniel, who is a licensed nitro racer with limited competition experience. He expects to have Daniel at some events, preferably during the Countdown, as a blocker. Depending on the elder Wilkerson’s point ranking, his son could race in Charlotte.

The second generation Wilkerson ran earlier this season in a car the senior Wilkerson deemed as being one of the cars to beat.  until he faced teammate Bob Tasca III in the first round of the NHRA O’Reilly Summer Nationals in Topeka, Kan.

“He’s a focused kid and I think he could take some people out for me,” Wilkerson said. “I don’t think he would screw me up.”

However, running Daniel would further increase Wilkerson's workload.

“It’s a little bit of a hassle because then I have to tune two of them,” Wilkerson admitted.

Wilkerson can handle the stress because as longtime friend and former tuner Fred Mandoline quipped following the two-car effort in Topeka, “If Barnum & Bailey died, Tim Wilkerson could run the circus after watching that.”

WILKERSON’S 2010 PLANS – Wilkerson told CompetitionPlus.com that his he’s not really sure what his 2010 racing plans are.

Levi, Ray & Shoup will return next year but at what level remains to be seen at this moment.

“He’s committed to us for 2010,” said Wilkerson, speaking of the conversation he had last week with Dick Levi. “We haven’t nailed down a dollar figure yet. I don’t where we will be and I think truthfully, he’s trying to see where the economy weighs out.”

A good associate sponsor would do wonders for Wilkerson.

“I think if we could find a good associate sponsor, we could end up with more money than we had this year,” Wilkerson concluded.
 

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