Pomona, pre-race: As the word snow is being uttered in weather forecasts from coast to coast and signs of Christmas are appearing in stores everywhere, the teams are converging on the Pomona Raceway for the 40th annual Auto Club Finals marking the finale of the 2004 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Season. A closing of something always calls for reminiscing and reflecting. This holds true for the Springfield, Ill. driver of the Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevy Monte Carlo Funny Car, Tim Wilkerson, as he takes a moment to look back over the past year of wins, No. 1 qualifying positions, a track record, great times with friends and family and numerous disappointments.

"I'd give us a B- for a grade for this year," said Wilkerson. "I don't think we were average, so I wouldn't give us a C. I'd say we had an above average year. We did a decent job with all the changes that NHRA threw at us this year. My goodness, every time we turned around they threw a different tire at us and then there was the 85% rule. How much more could they do to us. We're proud of the fact that we didn't oil the track all year. In fact, we haven't oiled the track for several years. Watch now that I said it out loud; we'll oil it this weekend. We tried so many different things this year, different clutch set-ups, different blower set-ups and different parts, and we learned so much that should help us next year.

"The high point of our year was probably the first half of the season. We were pretty happy with what we were doing and learning through the western swing. We were doing well until the 85% nitro rule hit us. We're hoping we go back to 90% because we're beating the shit out of our parts on 85%. They may not change it because the cars are running just as fast as they used to and some of the teams might not want to go back because they've figured out how to run on 85%. Maybe they could do a range, where 85% would be the least you could run and 90% would be the maximum."

Wilkerson is not the kind of person that dwells on the past or isn't a would have, should have, could have kind of guy, but would like to change some things from this year if he could.

"It would have helped us if we could have stayed after a few races to test," said Wilkerson. "We've had to use Saturdays as our test day. We did go to Route 66 in Joliet twice on a Tuesday, but it's not the same. It's best to test when the track is in race day shape and there are other Funny Cars around. It's been hard for us because of the team's time constraints and scheduling. I've already talked with the guys and we've got four or five test sessions scheduled for next year.

"The other thing I wish I could change is our luck. I think we had more bad luck than good luck this year. We lost some tough races. In Bristol, we had it won when we hit the wall. And how many times were we the fastest loser of the session. It would be great if our luck would turn around for us next year."

Even though the season is coming to an end, there always is hope and optimism for the race on hand. Being the highest ranked single car Funny Car team in the points contest, Wilkerson is looking forward to this weekend to be a highlight in his year.

"Historically we run good in Pomona," explained Wilkerson. " We've gone to the semi's several times, we've qualified No. 1, and we've lost in some very close races. We're looking forward to his weekend because we have Levi, Ray & Shoup (LRS) guests from all over the country coming. I've talked to a lot of them already who are excited about joining us. So we have to be on our best behavior and try our best to get the LRS Monte Carlo into the winner's circle."

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