WILKERSON’S FATHERLY PRIDE
Sun, 2008-05-25 12:29
Tim Wilkerson knew the kid could handle driving an 8,000-horse nitro Funny Car, but he just had to see it
for himself. The kid was Wilkerson’s 21-year old son Dan, who was
making his professional drag racing debut in the same nitro Funny Car
which leads the NHRA championship standings.
Dan drove to a provisional IHRA world record on his maiden nitro voyage with a 4.831 elapsed time at 316.01 miles per hour.
“I knew he was capable of showing me up,” Wilkerson said. “We didn’t get after it as much as we could have. He got out of the groove a little bit but he can see really well out of the car.” Tim Wilkerson knew the kid could handle driving an 8,000-horse nitro Funny Car, but he just had to see it
for himself. The kid was Wilkerson’s 21-year old son Dan, who was
making his professional drag racing debut in the same nitro Funny Car
which leads the NHRA championship standings.
Dan drove to a provisional IHRA world record on his maiden nitro voyage with a 4.831 elapsed time at 316.01 miles per hour.
“I knew he was capable of showing me up,” Wilkerson said. “We didn’t get after it as much as we could have. He got out of the groove a little bit but he can see really well out of the car.”
Friday evening was the first time the second-generation Wilkerson had ever driven the Monte Carlo.
“I was a little afraid of that but he shut it off when he was supposed to have,” Wilkerson added. “He got the parachutes out on time and did really good. He needs about another 300 laps and I’ll turn him loose.”
If Dan had his way those 300 laps would come in 2009 on the IHRA tour. Wilkerson would love to put Dan on the IHRA series full time in 2009, but the cost and time constraints may prohibit.
“If we had a sponsor, we’d make it happen,” Wilkerson said. “There’s no doubt it would be great for him to gain experience. The problem is that the nitro car takes up so much of my time. I wouldn’t have time to come and I don’t know that I’m comfortable enough to let someone else watch over him yet.”
One thing Wilkerson is assured, the IHRA atmosphere is the perfect place for his talented son to cut his teeth in nitro racing.
“It’s the perfect place because the program is so laid back,” Wilkerson said. “There are some good Top Fuel teams and Funny Car programs capable of running over in the NHRA. You’re not quite as tense and in a crazy atmosphere. That place is so structured and runs go off at a certain time and there no missing them … the oildown issue … yada yada yada. This place is a little easier to deal with when it comes to that. For a guy starting out, this is the perfect place. The IHRA people have bent over backwards for us.”
So what advice does a seven-time national event winner provide his rookie son on his first run?
“We had our normal talk about how he didn’t need to be a hero,”
Wilkerson said. “I told him not to drive over his head and to shut the
car off when we needed to. The problem is that it’s tough to make a
fast car slow. That’s our problem.
“I got on him yesterday [about moving around on the run] and said good job, you probably beat us out of .01,” Wilkerson added. “I showed him my runs and he came back at me rather quickly.”
Wilkerson confirmed that he learned a lot about the way John Force and his team communicate with their drivers after an unfortunate situation and he applied that to his post-run experience with Daniel.
“I remembered seeing them when Mike Neff blew up in Bristol and they were asking him if he was okay, right off the bat,” Wilkerson said. “The first thing I asked him if his chutes were out and the car was stopped. He came back to me and said, ‘The car is bouncing, I’ll get back to you.
“He came back to me after he stopped and said, ‘That was a lot faster than it was the last time I drove it.”
Dan’s side of the exchange was slightly different.
“We had like a two minute conversation and the car was still rolling,” Dan recalled. “The first thing he did was to make sure I was stopped and then he asked if I wanted to know what I ran. Of course I did. He just kept on teasing me and wouldn’t tell me what I ran.”
Somewhere in the photo you will see a smiling Tim Wilkerson. (Roger Richards Photos)
Dan drove to a provisional IHRA world record on his maiden nitro voyage with a 4.831 elapsed time at 316.01 miles per hour.
“I knew he was capable of showing me up,” Wilkerson said. “We didn’t get after it as much as we could have. He got out of the groove a little bit but he can see really well out of the car.” Tim Wilkerson knew the kid could handle driving an 8,000-horse nitro Funny Car, but he just had to see it
Somewhere in the photo you will see a smiling Tim Wilkerson. (Roger Richards Photos)
Dan drove to a provisional IHRA world record on his maiden nitro voyage with a 4.831 elapsed time at 316.01 miles per hour.
“I knew he was capable of showing me up,” Wilkerson said. “We didn’t get after it as much as we could have. He got out of the groove a little bit but he can see really well out of the car.”
Friday evening was the first time the second-generation Wilkerson had ever driven the Monte Carlo.
“I was a little afraid of that but he shut it off when he was supposed to have,” Wilkerson added. “He got the parachutes out on time and did really good. He needs about another 300 laps and I’ll turn him loose.”
If Dan had his way those 300 laps would come in 2009 on the IHRA tour. Wilkerson would love to put Dan on the IHRA series full time in 2009, but the cost and time constraints may prohibit.
“If we had a sponsor, we’d make it happen,” Wilkerson said. “There’s no doubt it would be great for him to gain experience. The problem is that the nitro car takes up so much of my time. I wouldn’t have time to come and I don’t know that I’m comfortable enough to let someone else watch over him yet.”
One thing Wilkerson is assured, the IHRA atmosphere is the perfect place for his talented son to cut his teeth in nitro racing.
“It’s the perfect place because the program is so laid back,” Wilkerson said. “There are some good Top Fuel teams and Funny Car programs capable of running over in the NHRA. You’re not quite as tense and in a crazy atmosphere. That place is so structured and runs go off at a certain time and there no missing them … the oildown issue … yada yada yada. This place is a little easier to deal with when it comes to that. For a guy starting out, this is the perfect place. The IHRA people have bent over backwards for us.”
So what advice does a seven-time national event winner provide his rookie son on his first run?
Tim
Wilkerson said he'd love to let Dan run a season of nitro on the IHRA
tour but time and sponsorship remain the deciding factor.
“I got on him yesterday [about moving around on the run] and said good job, you probably beat us out of .01,” Wilkerson added. “I showed him my runs and he came back at me rather quickly.”
Wilkerson confirmed that he learned a lot about the way John Force and his team communicate with their drivers after an unfortunate situation and he applied that to his post-run experience with Daniel.
“I remembered seeing them when Mike Neff blew up in Bristol and they were asking him if he was okay, right off the bat,” Wilkerson said. “The first thing I asked him if his chutes were out and the car was stopped. He came back to me and said, ‘The car is bouncing, I’ll get back to you.
“He came back to me after he stopped and said, ‘That was a lot faster than it was the last time I drove it.”
Dan’s side of the exchange was slightly different.
“We had like a two minute conversation and the car was still rolling,” Dan recalled. “The first thing he did was to make sure I was stopped and then he asked if I wanted to know what I ran. Of course I did. He just kept on teasing me and wouldn’t tell me what I ran.”
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