Daniel Wilkerson, the 21-year-old son of NHRA Funny Car star Tim
Wilkerson, will make his National Hot Rod Association
professional
debut at the upcoming O'Reilly Summer Nationals, May 29-31, at
Heartland Park Topeka. The younger Wilkerson earned his nitro Funny
Car license in 2007, was the No. 1 qualifier and runner-up at his
first, and only, IHRA event in Milan, Mich. in May of '08, and also
defeated Ashley Force in an all second-generation final round at the
popular Norwalk Raceway "Night Under Fire" match race last year, when
he posted an e.t. of 4.173 seconds at more than 297 mph. In addition,
he has successfully competed as a sportsman racer in the NHRA Top
Alcohol Funny Car class since 2006, winning the Division 3 TAFC
championship in '07.
Wilkerson will drive a second Levi, Ray & Shoup Funny Car in
Topeka, and will compete with his own crew, with additional help from
his father and the LRS Shelby Mustang team. While it will be his NHRA
national event debut, Wilkerson is not planning to make all of the
allotted qualifying runs on Friday and Saturday, as his father
explained.
"It just seems like the right time to get Daniel out there and get his
feet wet in the big leagues, so we're going to take it one step at a
time and not overwhelm him or any of the guys on his team," the senior
Wilkerson said. "Right now, the plan is to make one qualifying pass a
day, to make sure he and his guys are buttoned-up and ready for each
lap. We're not trying to stun the world, we just see this as a great
time to get him out there and make his debut.