Daniel Wilkerson and the SCAG Power Equipment Ford Mustang Funny Car team look at this weekend’s Toyota NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park as an opportunity to throw their hats in the running for the Funny Car title.
With The Big Go, drag racing’s most prestigious event, being points-and-a-half and with it being the end of the regular season, Wilkerson, sitting eighth by only 13 points, could make a significant move before the points reset for the NHRA Countdown to the Championship, NHRA’s six-race playoffs.
“We did a little testing since Brainerd and we are super stoked going into Indy. We have had a B+ car and I have had C+ reactions times and I think we improved both over these few weeks,” said Wilkerson, who is being crew chiefed by his dad Tim, a U.S. Nationals winner in 2021 and 2003. “This is a huge race for a host of reasons. When you drive in this place every morning you can almost feel the weight of the history. The coolest part is that Tim has won this race twice so our team is embedded in that history. Having my first win at Indy would definitely add something to the history books and I see no reason why we can’t make that a reality this weekend.”
The SCAG Mustang team are not out of the conversation for a late season upset. The father-son crew chief and driver combo have held their own in qualifying while picking up round wins on race day. The Wilkersons have only had six first round losses in the first 13 events on tour with Daniel racing to a career best weekend at the Charlotte Four-Wide event where he runnered-up to defending world champion Matt Hagan. Most recently, Wilkerson qualified 12th and beat Alexis DeJoria before exiting in the quarterfinals.
The Toyota NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park will begin with five rounds of qualifying Friday at 8:00 p.m., Saturday at 1:00 and 3:30 p.m. and Sunday at 1:20 and 4:00 p.m. Eliminations are scheduled to begin Sunday at 10:00 a.m. Television coverage includes qualifying action on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) at 1:00 p.m. ET on Friday and 6:30 p.m. ET on Sunday with eliminations beginning Monday at noon on FS1 and shifting to FOX Broadcasting Network (FOX) at 2:00 p.m. ET.
This story was originally published on August 29, 2024. 
