Nitro Dogs Racing

Justin Humphreys’ RaceRedi Motorsports Pro Stock team finds itself in a frustrating predicament, one that is not easily resolved. His Pontiac GXP is without race motors and, therefore, will not be competing at this weekend’s O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals presented by Castrol GTX inTopeka.

Humphreys said Richard Maskin, who had been the engine supplier, “called us and said he didn’t want to do this anymore and asked us to send his engines back (from the team’s Maryland shop to

Detroit).  We had no forewarning … and we don’t have any other engines available to us, so we won’t be in

Topeka.”The dilemma comes at an inopportune time. Humphreys slipped out of the POWERade Series top 10 for the first time this year when the car’s performance faltered at the last two NHRA races (Madison and

Bristol) and he did not qualify. He is now 11th overall.“We only got down the track once [in four attempts] during qualifying at

Bristol [May 17],” added Humphreys. “We are looking for other alternatives. Good Pro Stock motors are in high demand, and there aren’t many available.”

UP DATE:  Justin Humphreys will be among the Pro Stock contingent at the O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals Presented by Castrol GTX after all, thanks to an offer from Allen Johnson and Don Schumacher Racing. “We’ll definitely be at

Topeka,” said Humphreys, who 24 hours earlier had abandoned hope following the unexpected departure of the RaceRedi Motorsports team’s engine supplier. “Allen Johnson and his team are good friends of ours, and he and Schumacher Racing stepped up and offered us a ride in one of their Dodge Stratus R/Ts.  “They are good people, and we are excited to be able to work with them. We definitely appreciate it. It will be exciting to have the horsepower to run with everyone.”

The agreement, for now, is for the Summer Nationals and next week’s race in

Chicago. 

“This is a good thing for us,” added Humphreys, “because it gives us a chance to do what we need to do to keep earning points and get back in the top 10. And this gives us time to get another engine program for our Pontiac GXP.”

The second-year Pro Stock competitor and former NOPI and Sport Compact champion was a fixture in the top 10 through the first seven races, but he dropped out after two successive non-qualifying events.  He’s 11th with 296 points, 31 out of 10th place.  

“I’m just glad to be going to the races,” Humphreys concluded.

Milan, Mich., May 26, 2008: All across America young men are borrowing their father’s car for the weekend, some to impress a special young lady, others to haul their possessions home from school. 20 year-old college student, Daniel Wilkerson borrowed his dad’s car this weekend. Only he didn’t get a big SUV or a luxury car, instead he got a 7,000 horsepower nitro burning Funny Car. By the way, his father happens to be the current NHRA POWERade points leader, Tim Wilkerson. And Daniel took the Lev, Ray & Shoup Chevrolet Impala SS to the IHRA Motor City Nationals in Milan, Mich. to make his nitro Funny Car debut.

The talented young driver is no stranger to drag racing, having started his career at the age of 12 in Junior Dragster. Last year in his first full Top Alcohol Funny Car season of racing, he was the Lucas Oil Div. 3 Champion. But his dream of driving a race car started before the ripe old age of 12.

As mom, Krista explains, “in his mind, Daniel has been driving this race car since he was five years old. I think he did a terrific job this weekend and I’m very proud of him. He takes after his dad and that gives me goose bumps.”

On his first professional pass down the quarter-mile on Friday night, Daniel brought the drag racing community to its feet as he posted a 4.831 at 316.01 mph capturing the No. 1 position in the Torco Racing Fuels Pro Nitro qualifying and earning the coveted Last Man Standing award. And to top off his stunning performance, this was the quickest Funny Car pass in IHRA history.

In the second day of qualifying at the Milan Dragway, Daniel didn’t fare as well. On his first pass, he dropped a cylinder and the car moved close to the wall. It was reported that he hit the wall, but he did a good driving job and kept it off. He posted a 4.962 at 289.94 mph. In the last session, Daniel smoked the tires and coasted across the finish line at 9.086. Even though he didn’t improve on his Friday night run, he remained the No. 1 qualifier.

Race day continued to be a dream come true for this second-generation driver. Daniel drove his way to a final-round appearance, by first taking out Dale Creasy Jr. and then Jack Wyatt. This matched him up against Paul Lee in the final-round. Here Daniel didn’t have enough to hold off his opponent, only posting a 5.201 against Lee’s 4.956.

“It was a fairytale weekend, from beginning to end,” expressed Daniel, “and we had fun the whole time. There are no words to describe it, it’s unbelievable. It was really exciting to get to race Dad’s car, it’s really fast. It was a great weekend. I didn’t need to win for it to be great.

“That 4.83 run on Friday night was the fastest I’ve ever gone in my entire life. It would have been cool if we could have backed it up and gotten the world record. And it would have been out of this world if we would have won, but I’m glad for Paul Lee. He’s in the points hunt and we’re not. And with the way Dad’s year is we know how important points are and how much fun that is. We’re just trying to get me some seat time. We don’t even know how many races we’re going to do, so it was good for Paul.”

“I’m extremely proud of Daniel,” said proud dad, Tim. “This weekend was a good time and it was great to be in the finals. I let him down there because I put on our old, crummy blower and it was a slug. I wish I could blame something other than me, but I don’t think so. There may be an ignition problem because I thought it would be better than that, so we’ll look into it at the shop.

“But Daniel did a great job. The car is extremely fast. If I had to grade him, I’d give him a ‘B’. The track had a narrow groove and he kept it in the middle where he needed to be. He did everything I told him to correctly and he’d come back from the run and tell me everything that happened. Those are all the markings of a good driver. They announced that he hit the wall on Saturday’s first pass and it was hard to tell from the starting line because there was so much dust. So, when he came back from the run, I asked him about it and he told me that he knew he got close but that he didn’t hit it.”

“I really want to thank Mom and Dad for this weekend; I have the best parents,” said the rookie. “I really appreciate them for giving me the opportunity to do this. And I want to thank Dick Levi and Levi, Ray & Shoup. Plus I want to thank all the crew guys for the job they did. Dad talks about what a great job they do and he certainly is right about that.

“And IHRA treated me well and I want to thank them for that. It was pretty cool the way I was accepted by all the other racers and teams. I got to race the champ, Dale Jr. and that was exciting. Everyone was really nice and that made me feel good.”

Being the reigning Top Alcohol Funny Car champion gives Daniel great driving experience, but the two cars are different machines.

“When I get back in my alcohol car, it’s going to seem slow,” explained Daniel. “They may look the same, but they’re different animals. The alcohol car doesn’t do anything unexpected. But the fuel car, out of nowhere it does stuff. Alcohol cars are known to launch harder than a fuel car but that doesn’t last long. The fuel car launches easy but at about 150 feet – hold on!

“If I had to grade myself on this weekend, I’d give myself a ‘B’ because I kept it in the middle just like Dad told me to. I know I have a lot of room for improvement and I’m ready to work hard at being the kind of driver my Dad is.”

Daniel is preparing for this coming weekend’s race which will be the O’Reilly Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka, where he will be competing in his slower Top Alcohol Funny Car. And he will be focused with qualifying at the top of the pack and winning in that car. But the thrill of this weekend will still be fresh in his mind and it will be apparent by his radiant ear-to-ear grin that will appear every so often.

 Taken From Nitro Matter.

http://www.nitromater.com/news-information/15087-daniel-wilkerson-takes-world-storm-his-funny-car-debut.html

As Tim Wilkerson and his talented team roll into Bristol Dragway for the 8th annual O’Reilly Thunder Valley Nationals, they are on a high they have never experienced before. The Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevrolet Impala SS is undeniably the best Funny Car on the NHRA POWERade Drag racing circuit right now. After seven contested races, they have captured two wins, four No. 1 qualifying positions, are No. 1 in U.S. Smokeless Showdown points, No. 1 in the Full Throttle Pit Crew Challenge and, best but not least, No. 1 in POWERade Championship points.

After their spectacular outing last week in St. Louis, the fanfare and notoriety that has surrounded Wilkerson and his team is exciting and well deserved, but the level-headed Wilkerson is a realist and knows that this tremendous streak may not last forever and could come to an end at any time. He knows they need to keep a collective level head and not get over confident or let their feelings of stardom get in the way. He knows they need to keep focused and approach this weekend’s race as a brand new opportunity, a new challenge.

“It’s going to be tough but we need to pretend that St. Louis never happened and approach Bristol as the first time we’re going to try and win a race,” said Wilkerson. “We’re looking to approach it that way and hope for the best.”

At the beginning of the season, Wilkerson set-up one goal to be the team’s focus this year and even though they have achieved and even surpassed that goal several times, it remains the same. So as Wilkerson prepares for Bristol, he tucks away the past and focuses on his challenge at hand. He knows it is crucial that they stay focused on the goal they set out for themselves at every race.

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again and again,” explained Wilkerson, “we need to keep our goal in mind, and that goal is three fold. First, we need to qualify for the race. We don’t have to top qualify, even though that’s been great in helping our U.S. Smokeless points. And last week in St. Louis, it was great being the No. 1 qualifier because we were able to break the not winning from the No. 1 spot jinx that has been hanging over us. So, another No. 1 would be an added bonus. The second step in achieving our goal is to go rounds. We have to go past the first-round in order to keep going. And if we do that, maybe we can fulfill our third step, which is to win the race. But if we get side-tracked and lose focus on our goal, we’re going to get in trouble. So, we need to keep on track and keep up our momentum, and hopefully we can be a thorn in everybody’s side, again”