Wilkerson: An Opportunity Years In The Making

It’s said, “Good things come to those who wait.”

If that’s truly the case, Daniel Wilkerson should have plenty of success this season after waiting 17 years to replace his father, Tim Wilkerson, behind the wheel of the family’s nitro Funny Car.

It’s said, “Good things come to those who wait.” If that’s truly the case, Daniel Wilkerson should have plenty of success this season after waiting 17 years to replace his father, Tim Wilkerson, behind the wheel of the family’s nitro Funny Car. At age 63, with 24 NHRA Wallys in his trophy case, the elder Wilkerson hung up his helmet during the offseason. He will now focus solely on tuning the SCAG Wilkerson Racing entry that is being driven by his 36-year-old son, Daniel Wilkerson.

Daniel Wilkerson (NHRA Photo)

The younger Wilkerson is technically a rookie even though he earned his NHRA Funny Car license way back in 2007. “So, in ’07-’08, one of the reasons I got my license is because we had a sponsorship lined up,” Wilkerson told SPEED SPORT. “It was a done deal. We were gonna go full time racing in ’08, and that fell through.” However, an even better deal arrived one year later. “So then, in ’08, I made a couple of runs to keep my license, and the same thing happened,” Wilkerson recalled. “Had a different fellow that was, ‘You might as well not even go look for a job when you get done with college, because we’re gonna do this … sign here, and we’ll have a three-year deal.’” Surely that deal was set in stone. Right? “That fell through,” Wilkerson said with a laugh. “There was a lot of heartbreak in the beginning. So it got to a point where I was like, ‘OK, well, until I’m sitting in the car at the first race of the year, I don’t believe you. “‘I don’t believe these shenanigans that are taking place.’”

Daniel Wilkerson blasts down the strip during the PRO Superstar Shootout at Bradenton (Fla.) Motorsports Park. (Matt Butcosk photo)

Those shenanigans stopped when Wilkerson wheeled his father’s Funny Car during the PRO Superstar Shootout at Bradenton (Fla.) Motorsports Park in February. It was finally happening, but the realization of Wilkerson becoming a professional drag racer like his father took some time to sink in. “Honestly, this is gonna sound really stupid, but it didn’t really click until we were at the SCAG Power Equipment Superstar Shootout. Like three weeks ago,” Wilkerson began. “The guy (that) usually gets me suited up was sick, and Tim actually helped me get all my safety gear on. He got up there, gave me a hug, and I was like, ‘Dude, this is really cool. We’re doing it. Like, we’re actually doing this thing we’ve been wanting to do for 20 years, like, this is badass.’” While Wilkerson could tell his father was emotional, the elder Wilkerson kept their moment short and sweet before passing the torch. “He kind of looked at me and he almost, he’s a little softy, almost teared up,” Daniel Wilkerson said. “I could see it coming. He just patted me on the shoulder and said, ‘Go get ’em.’” For Daniel Wilkerson, that was one of the many fond memories he’s had over the years with his father at the race track. Another that took place when he was 8 years old and it fueled his desire to pursue a racing career. A trip to National Trail Raceway near Columbus, Ohio, was what Wilkerson called, “a guys’ trip.” “We stayed at a super crummy motel outside of Columbus. I got to do the race thing, he handed me a couple cleaning tasks that I thought were probably the most important thing on the whole car,” Wilkerson recalled. “So I would grab some tin work and hide and clean it and bring it back. “Man, I thought I was Ricky Bobby’s crew chief, I was cleaning stuff. I thought, ‘Man, it’s not gonna get any better than this.’” Along with his budding career in the pit area, Wilkerson also had his eyes on operating a gas station as a kid. “It kind of ebbed and flowed because he (Tim) ran four gas stations in town,” Wilkerson said. “There was a while where I thought that was the coolest job ever, too. We’d bounce around through a couple of his shops that are in town here in Springfield, Illinois. And I’m like, ‘Man, this is really fun, too. He gets to work on cars at this place, then we go over here, and he’s running the cash register. Then we go over here, and he’s running, scheduling cars, like, this is a neat job. too.’ “So I actually told my fourth-grade counselor that I wanted to own a gas station and drive a race car. I had all kinds of different ideas, but they all basically were copying Tim.” Emulating his father was what the younger Wilkerson did. As his opportunity to go drag racing neared, Wilkerson found himself working as a tuner on Chad Green’s Funny Car. Green and Wilkerson scored a win in Pomona, Calif., and finished fifth in the standings last year. Interestingly, Daniel Wilkerson was almost tapped to race full time in 2023. However, the stars didn’t align. “He (Tim) had mentioned to me for the 2023 season that he didn’t really necessarily want to drive,” Wilkerson recalled. “He wanted me to drive in 2023. “So we kind of kicked it around. Then, it didn’t really seem like it was gonna work out best for this program, or Chad’s program to be honest. “It wouldn’t have been fair to Chad to just say, ‘Well, go get ’em buddy.’ Because I was working on Chad Green’s car at the time.” As the sun set on the 2023 season, it also set on Tim Wilkerson’s driving career. With SCAG Power Equipment forming a factory team in three NHRA professional divisions, it opened the door for Wilkerson to take a step back. “Over the winter this year, it just seemed like the best move for this SCAG Power Equipment program and being able to have a guy that could drive the car, come back, hang out with the distributors, dealers and customers was going to be for it to not to be Tim,” Wilkerson explained.

Daniel Wilkerson makes a pass during the Gatornationals at Florida’s Gainesville Raceway. (NHRA photo)

With Tim Wilkerson’s extensive involvement, taking over driving duties was Daniel’s way of easing the load from his father’s shoulders. “It was just the best thing for this program to remove one of those hats for him,” Wilkerson said. “Hopefully, I won’t let him down. So far, we’re doing OK. I’m not just saying I’m filling those shoes, but so far, it doesn’t look like we went backward.” With two races under his belt, Wilkerson had been eliminated in the first round of each contest. However, the season was young and the race car had speed. For most, waiting on a dream job can be tiring and frustrating. For Daniel Wilkerson, he counted his blessings and remained thankful for each aspect of his journey. “Well, let me tell you something,” he said. “If the biggest problem I ever had in my life, is I didn’t get to drive a race car, that was a pretty damn good life. Right? “I really enjoy working on them. I have a wonderful wife and we have two kids. So I mean, waiting for a race car was not a big deal. I’m beyond stoked that SCAG Power Equipment, Summit and Ford are giving me the opportunity to do this with my dad. “Because, like I said, we’ve been wanting to do this for almost 25 years, and thinking we were gonna get to do it for that long,” Wilkerson added. “But I live a very blessed life. I’m a lucky dude. “I’ve been getting to do what I love and do it with my family for the last three or four years. So it’s not like I was just going to bed crying every night because I didn’t get to drive a race car. That wasn’t really the situation. “Now, that we get to do it, I almost every once in a while, I tell my wife when we go to bed, I’m like, ‘Dude we’re really doing this. This is borderline unbelievable.’ “But, now I gotta believe it because we did Gainesville and we’re gonna do the rest of them.”