Tim Wilkerson (born December 29, 1960, in Springfield, Illinois) is a

NHRA The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a drag racing governing body, which sets rules in drag racing and hosts events all over the United States and Canada. With over 40,000 drivers in its rosters, the NHRA claims to be the largest motorsp ...

drag racer. He graduated from Southeast High School in Springfield, Illinois and earned an Associate's in Science in

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...

from

Lincoln Land Community College Lincoln Land Community College is a public community college in Springfield, Illinois. It has extended branches in different locations, including Beardstown, Jacksonville, Litchfield and Taylorville, Illinois. The main campus is less than hal ...

. He is married to Krista and has three children, Daniel (2007 NHRA Division 3 Top Alcohol Funny Car Champion), Kevin, and Rachel. He owns Wilkerson's Service Center and Capital City Machine Shop in Springfield.

Early career

Tim Wilkerson raced an alcohol funny car from 1990 to 1995. He won back to back NHRA Division 3 Top Alcohol Funny Car Championships in 1994 and 1995.

Nitro Funny Car

He began his national

Nitro Nitro may refer to: Chemistry *Nitrogen, a chemical element and a gas except at very low temperatures, with which many compounds are formed: **Nitro compound, an organic compound containing one or more nitro functional groups, -NO2 **Nitroalkene, ...

Funny Car career in 1996. He was the first funny car rookie to run over 300 mph and the first funny car rookie in the 4s. He went to his first Nitro Funny Car final at the NHRA US Nationals in 1997. He finished 7th in points in 1998. Wilkerson won his first race in

Joliet, Illinois Joliet ( ) is a city in Will and Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County. At the 2020 census, the city was the third-largest in Illinois, with a population of 150,362. Hist ...

in 1999. On September 7, 2003, he won the famed US Nationals. He also won in Reading, Pennsylvania on October 5, 2003. In 2004 he won two races one in Houston, Texas and one in

Sonoma, California Sonoma is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Sonoma is one of the principal cities of California's Wine Country and the center of the Sonoma Valley AVA. Sonoma's p ...

. In 2006 he ran his career best speed of 330.47 mph. He ran his career best elapsed time of 4.723 in 2007 and he finished 15th in the season points. In 2008 he won six races:

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

;

Madison, Illinois Madison is a city in Madison and St. Clair counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 3,891 at the 2010 census. It is home to World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway and the first Bulgarian Orthodox church in the United States. ...

;

Englishtown, New Jersey Englishtown is a borough in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The community is nestled within the Raritan Valley region. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 1,847,Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

;

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

; and

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

. He led the

Nitro Funny Car points standings until the 15th event late in the season. He led the Countdown to the Championship and started at the top of the season-ending championship. He went to the final points event second in points and lost the championship to Cruz Pedregon.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkerson, Tim 1960 births Living people Sportspeople from Springfield, Illinois Lincoln Land Community College alumni Racing drivers from Illinois Dragster drivers