JCM Racing Post-Race Recap: Pomona 1 (1 Viewer)

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NHRA Winternationals
Event 3 of 21
In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip
Pomona, Calif.
March 31 – April 2


Funny Car:
Tim Wilkerson Races to Second Round in Pomona; Advances Two Positions in the Standings
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POMONA, Calif. (April 2, 2023) - NHRA raced into the In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip for the third event of the 2023 season, and Tim Wilkerson and his Maynard Wilkerson Racing Funny Car crew were looking for a boost of early-season success at the storied facility.
Behind the wheel of his SCAG Power Equipment/Levi, Ray & Shoup Ford Mustang, Wilkerson was quick off the trailer and powered to a 3.938-second pass at 324.51 mph in the opening qualifying session, which placed him in the provisional No. 4 spot. The team remained in the top half of the field throughout qualifying, eventually settling into the No. 6 seed, which is the best starting position for the team this season. The SCAG/LRS team faced a familiar first-round opponent by drawing Chad Green, who is tuned by Wilkerson’s son, Daniel, setting up a ‘Wilkerson vs. Wilkerson’ intramural family battle to start race day. Wilkerson powered to victory in 3.976 seconds by taking the SCAG/LRS Ford straight down the groove while Green’s car failed to move off the starting line.
Wilkerson next faced Terry Haddock, who had yet to defeat the driver/tuner in eliminations. Wilkerson got off the line first and was on a strong run until the tires hazed and Haddock went around him to set off the win light versus ‘Wilk’ for the first time.
“We had some type of mechanical problem down track that took us off the run to beat Terry,” said Wilkerson following the E2 loss. “That thing was just driving along without any problems, and then I felt the car having issues. We’ll go to the next race and try some more. We qualified a little better this weekend, but every Saturday is still a test session for us. I’m looking forward to getting four cracks at it (during qualifying) when we go to Vegas. There’s a lot of new parts and pieces in my car, and I wish I could tell you when I’ll have my hands around it.
“I’m looking forward to knowing how hard I can push these parts and bringing home a win for our friends at SCAG. I’ll tell you, having SCAG on board as a partner has been so great for me, and I’m looking forward to bringing home a win for them soon.”
Wilkerson started the weekend ranked 10th, and by advancing to the quarterfinals, he successfully moved up two positions in the standings to eighth. Wilkerson will take to the track next at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on April 14-16.



Top Fuel:
Tony Schumacher and SCAG Top Fuel Team Continue to Build Momentum in Pomona
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Tony Schumacher and the SCAG Power Equipment Top Fuel team continued to build upon their program at the NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Calif. Right out of the gate, the team unloaded with a smooth and straight pass during the event’s opening qualifying session, posting a 3.762 E.T. to place Schumacher in the top half of the field to start Saturday. The team backed up their solid Q1 effort with another good run during the second qualifying round, and were looking strong during Q3 until Schumacher’s machine pitched the blower belt as it approached the top end.
At the conclusion of the event’s three qualifying sessions, Schumacher was locked-in for eighth and faced No. 7 qualifier Shawn Langdon as his first-round opponent. The former world champs were the first pair to hit the track on Sunday and kicked off the elimination show with an exciting side-by-side race. The drivers launched hard and were glued together from start to finish, both clocking their best runs of the weekend, but Langdon’s slight starting line advantage (0.049 vs. Schumacher’s 0.065) gave him enough of an edge to propel him through the beams first.
“I came out on the right side of a very good drag race in Gainesville, and the wrong side of a fantastic race here in Pomona,” said Schumacher, a six-time event winner at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip. “One thing about drag racing is that it has never been this awesome before; it is just bad to the bone. That was a great race. Shawn Langdon is a hell of a driver and he got me on that one. We put a cylinder out at 800 feet but this was a great weekend. We made it down the track four times, and I feel like Zippy (Mike Neff), L.J. (Jon Shaffer) and Phil (Shuler) all think that the path we are going on right now is excellent, and now we can move it all in. We will keep getting a little quicker and quicker every run. Unfortunately, it’s a bummer going out early but these races are going to do that sometimes.
“The fans and the great people from SCAG got a great show today. We were first pair out, we didn’t have much to look at, didn’t know what the track was going to do but the great thing about the guys tuning my car is that that they have so much knowledge that they were able to pick the perfect tune-up for the car to get us a lightning fast hot rod. The rest of this SCAG Power Equipment team, man, these guys are doing an outstanding job, they have come a long way and it shows. I’m really looking forward to the Four-Wide Nationals at Vegas coming up. We are going to have a ton of people from SCAG Power Equipment coming to spend the weekend with us, and I can’t wait to put on a great show for the best people and partners in motorsports.”



About JCM Racing:
Established in 2022, JCM Racing is a multi-car NHRA team owned by Joe and Cathi Maynard, along with their partners Eric and Kim Lehman, all of Clarksville, Tenn.
Headliners for the JCM Racing team are the SCAG Power Equipment Top Fuel dragster driven by Tony Schumacher and the SCAG Power Equipment/Levi, Ray & Shoup Ford Mustang Funny Car piloted by Tim Wilkerson. As an eight-time world champion and 86-time event winner, Schumacher is the most decorated Top Fuel driver in the history of the sport. Wilkerson is a 22-time Funny Car winner and an industry anomaly as he serves as both the driver and tuner of his 11,000-horsepower machine. NHRA Hall of Famer Don Schumacher, father of Tony Schumacher, is a minority owner of the SCAG dragster, while Tim Wilkerson Racing (TWR) co-owns the SCAG/LRS Mustang with JCM Racing.
JCM Racing also operates a driver development program, which currently lends support to three entries in NHRA’s Sportsman categories. Wyatt Wagner competes in Super Stock, Kayleigh Hill is a Super Comp racer, and Waylon Bennett tears it up in the Jr. Drag Racing League. Through the driver development program, JCM offers young talent the opportunity to hone in and perfect their driving skills as they work toward a career competing in NHRA’s professional ranks.
For more information, visit @jcmnitro on Twitter and Instagram, @JCMNitro on Facebook, and JCMNitro.com.



 
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