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The story behind Daniel Wilkerson ’ s new role : full-time Funny Car driver By Kayla Zadel
You wouldn ’ t know that Daniel Wilkerson gave up his tuning duties as he stands around with his crew , hands covered in clutch dust , grease , and whatever else turns one ’ s hands black at a dragstrip . He ’ s deep in discussion as he and his team are preparing the SCAG Power Equipment Ford Mustang Funny Car to compete in the Top Fuel vs . Funny Car Shootout during the SCAG Power Equipment PRO Superstar Shootout presented by JHG . Wilkerson might not have qualified for the eight-car Funny Car field , but you wouldn ’ t know because of his excitement .
“ The atmosphere here is one of a kind . These are my people , right ?” he rhetorically asks . “ It ’ s like a hometown track . Everybody here is super excited about drag racing . It kind of reminds me of when I go bracket racing at home . Everyone here wants to be here really bad and everyone ’ s really excited for the show .”
The Illinois native is known for his comical
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interviews , where , quite literally , anything might come out of his mouth . That hasn ’ t changed now that he ’ s taken over driving duties . Wilkerson is still very energetic and animated as he explains the opportunity that was presented to him to pilot a Funny Car on a full-time basis for the first time in his career .
Wilkerson will tell you himself , he ’ s got some big shoes to fill . Those shoes – his dad ’ s , Tim Wilkerson , who has 24 career wins and 20 No . 1 qualifiers in a career that has spanned 27 years . Furthermore , Tim has finished in the top 10 in the championship points in 16 consecutive seasons , dating back to the 2008 season .
“ Tim and I seem to have a really good relationship . I told everybody my number one goal for this race was to not piss off any of the crew guys and to not look like a knucklehead ,”
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Daniel chuckles . “ So far , we have accomplished our goals for this race . We ’ re working well together , and everything ’ s gone smoothly , so I think if we can continue our team atmosphere , we ’ ll have a good year .”
When asked what it ’ s like working with your
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PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAVID HILNER , LUKE NIEUWHOF , SCOTT WITTY , AND JOE NOLAN |