Reading: Tim Wilkerson Saturday notes

WILK CLIMBS TO 11th DURING ANOTHER RAIN-SHORTENED DAY

Tim Wilkerson, and the rest of the pro classes, ended up getting only one more shot at the Maple Grove track on Saturday, as a bit of rain and a lot of persistent water seepage from the saturated ground brought the action to a crawl throughout the day. Session 3, originally scheduled for midday, was finally held around 5:00, and the final session never came close to being run when yet another storm system moved into the area.

On his one lap, Wilk posted a very solid 4.193 to move from a precarious spot near the bottom of the list up into the 11th position. Wilkerson will face Mike Neff in round one.

"These have been two of the hardest days you can have at the race track, spending 12 or 14 hours out here without doing much," Wilkerson said. "We're all tuned-in when it comes to working hard and making laps, but when the weather or the water drags everything to a crawl like this, there's no rhythm and no flow to the day. Let me tell you, it's hard work doing mostly nothing.

"We had no idea if we'd run one or two laps today, and if they hadn't had the problem with the water seeping up through the track I think we easily would've gotten two in, but we approached the one lap as if it was the only one. That was the only safe way to go after it, because you'd have been foolish to think we were going to get another one.

"I'm not going to tell you it was the best and quickest lap we could've run, but it was nice and safe and it went down there just like we wanted it to. With the bent valve deal last night, and us having to shut off early, we needed a good solid lap under our belts and we got it. We'll race out of the 11th spot, and we'll do our best to win that first round. Here's hoping that first round happens on Sunday!"

-credit: twr