Gainesville, pre-race: The 2002 Pontiac Firebird Funny Car body that dons the beautiful Levi, Ray & Shoup (LRS) paint scheme has served Springfield, Ill. native Tim Wilkerson proud, with two National Event wins, two final round appearances, two No. 1 qualifying positions, a career-best E.T. and mph and countless round wins. However, the time has come for her to step aside and let the newly designed Monte Carlo take the place of honor.

"It's really time for a new body," said Wilkerson. "Our old one is about ready to fall apart. It's been patched so many times that it's heavy. Unlike Team Force and Team Schumacher, we don't have the advantage of running a new, light body every weekend. A lighter body will help our performance. And if the aerodynamics of the Monte Carlo hold true they should be worth a couple hundreds and three mph. The improved aerodynamics and lighter weight should help anything that goes on out on the track."

The newest member of the Wilkerson team emerged gleaming from the paint shop this week, received finishing touches at the decal shop and was carefully loaded into the new T & E trailer to be cautiously transported down the highway. The new LRS Monte Carlo is ready to make her debut at the 35th Annual Mac Tools Gatornationals this weekend.

"I am anxious to see the Monte Carlo body," said sponsor, Dick Levi, "but I will have to catch it on TV. I wish the best of luck to Tim and the team this weekend in Gainesville!"

Wilkerson is currently in the top ten NHRA POWERade points standings and plans to use the new, sleek body to help him stay there.

"We just need to keep focused on going up and down the track as fast as we can," said Wilkerson, "and the new Monte Carlo should help us. We made five decent runs in Phoenix and we need to keep that up. It was a close race when Del (Worsham) took us out. We got nipped by one of the few cars that could beat us. We're just glad that Del went on to win his sponsor's race."

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