Las Vegas, pre-race: A positive Tim Wilkerson is looking forward to being strapped into the beautiful Levi, Ray & Shoup (LRS) Monte Carlo this weekend at the 5th Annual SummitRacing.com Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Wilkerson is coming to the fourth race of the 23-race season in one of the best situations he has found himself in during his Funny Car career.

Wilkerson is currently sitting in the No. 4 spot in the NHRA POWERade point standings; a position many teams covet. He is also coming off of a strong showing at the Mac Tools Gatornationals, with the No. 1 qualifying position and a semifinal round appearance.

Wilkerson debuted his new Monte Carlo body at the Gatornationals, and had great results with it even though the new track surface at Gainesville Raceway was what the racers call "green." The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is one of the premier facilities on the circuit, so the potential for great performance from the LRS team should increase.

"I expect that what we will see out of the LRS Monte Carlo in Las Vegas is a hint of what the Monte Carlo body will do for us at the good tracks we'll compete at in the future," said Wilkerson. "Last fall we ran a 323 here at The Strip in the Firebird, so this is a great track. If we can get our power harnessed this weekend, the couple of seconds and mph that the Monte Carlo brings to the game should yield us a 325/326 and a high 4.7."

Anticipated performance isn't the only reason Wilkerson is looking forward to the upcoming SummitRacing.com Nationals. Summit Racing joined Wilkerson onboard the LRS Monte Carlo this year as an associate sponsor.

"It's pretty cool having the title sponsor's decal on the LRS Monte Carlo," said Wilkerson. "We're the only Funny Car that Summit Racing sponsors, so we will try our very best to do them proud."

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