Memphis, pre-race: The upcoming 17th Annual O’Reilly Midsouth Nationals at Memphis Motorsports Park was moved up a month on the 2004 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series schedule. Memphis in August is known to be hot and humid and with forecast temperatures in the high 80’s all weekend, the historically tricky racing surface will certainly be even more difficult for the crew chiefs to master. Racing action has been scheduled for later in the day, in hopes to provide better weather and track conditions for the teams. Springfield, Ill. resident Tim Wilkerson, who happens to be the driver and the tuner of the Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevy Monte Carlo Funny Car, sees the evening racing as an advantage.

“I’m pretty optimistic going into Memphis,” said Wilkerson, “after our strong showing last week in Brainerd. I think we have our nighttime combination figured out, so if we can run at least an 85, we should get well into the field. When we have our junk together we run well there. I was the first guy to go in the fours there and I won several divisional races there in my Alcohol Funny Car.

“My only concern about running Memphis at night is how hard it’s going to be to see. When it’s hot and humid during the day, there’s a ton of dew in the air at night. I have never run Memphis at night when the windshield wasn’t covered with moisture. It is certainly going to separate the drivers, which is exactly what I like.”

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