Tim Wilkerson (born December 29, 1960, in

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its population was 114,394 at the 2020 United States census, which makes it the state's List of cities in Illinois, seventh-most populous cit ...

) is a

NHRA The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a 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 motorsport sanction ...

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 regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

from

Lincoln Land Community College Lincoln Land Community College is a public community college in Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its population was 114,394 at the 2020 United States ...

. 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 Alcohol may refer to: Common uses * Alcohol (chemistry), a class of compounds * Ethanol, one of several alcohols, commonly known as alcohol in everyday life ** Alcohol (drug), intoxicant found in alcoholic beverages ** Alcoholic beverage, an alco ...

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 **Nitro ligand ...

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 County, Illinois, Will and Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, located southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County, Illinois, Will County. It had a population of ...

in 1999. On September 7, 2003, he won the famed US Nationals. He also won in

Reading, Pennsylvania Reading ( ; ) is a city in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 95,112 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, fourth-most populous ...

on October 5, 2003. In 2004 he won two races one in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

and one in Sonoma, California. 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, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

;

Madison, Illinois Madison is a city in Madison and St. Clair counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is also a suburb of St. Louis. The population was 3,171 at the 2020 census, down from 3,891 in 2010. It is home to World Wide Technology Raceway at Gate ...

; Englishtown, New Jersey;

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

;

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

; and

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

. 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 NHRA drivers Sportspeople from Springfield, Illinois Lincoln Land Community College alumni Racing drivers from Illinois Dragster drivers