LAS VEGAS – Tim Wilkerson raced to the provisional No. 1 spot at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway at the 20th annual DENSO Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals Friday afternoon.
Mike Salinas (Top Fuel), Bo Butner (Pro Stock) and Hector Arana Jr. (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are also provisional qualifying leaders in their respective categories at the fourth of 24 events on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule.
Wilkerson powered his Levi, Ray & Shoup Ford Shelby Mustang to a 3.895-second run at 323.50 mph to land at the top of the Funny Car class after the second qualifying session. Wilkerson is looking for his first No. 1 qualifier since 2017. Wilkerson competed in the final round in Gainesville two weeks ago and is in search of his second career victory in Las Vegas.
“We do spend a lot of time looking at our parts,” Wilkerson said. “I think that makes our car as good as it is, everywhere we take it. It’s easy to be good at sea-level but when you can go from Gainesville to here, that’s proof that my guys do a good job making all my parts close to the same and I can turn a knob and put a head gasket on it and it actually acts the same. I think it’s just a good job that all my guys are doing. They make it easy for me to do what I do.”
Ron Capps is currently in second and reigning Funny Car champion J.R. Todd is third.
Salinas sits atop the Top Fuel division with his best pass of 3.705 seconds at 328.46 mph. He drove his Scrappers Racing dragster to the provisional No. 1 spot during Friday’s second qualifying session. Salinas is in search of second No. 1 qualifier and his first NHRA event title.
In Pro Stock, Butner ran a 6.648-second pass at 206.67 mph in his Jim Butner’s Auto Chevy Camaro during the second session to take the top spot. Butner was the event winner in Pomona and Gainesville. He has been to five final rounds at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Arana, on the Lucas Oil EBR Pro Stock Motorcycle, raced to the No. 1 position with his run of 6.884 seconds at 195.17 mph during his second qualifying pass. He is in search of his first No. 1 qualifier of the season. He owns two No. 1 qualifier positions at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.