Daniel Wilkerson and the SCAG Power Equipment Ford Mustang Funny Car team return to the sight of their first final round appearance and runner-up finish for this weekend’s NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway.
In the spring for the Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX, Wilkerson and the SCAG Mustang raced their way to a final quad appearance and finished with runner-up points, coming up short for their first win to Matt Hagan on a holeshot. Wilkerson also laid down his career best elapsed time going 3.885 seconds in the first round of eliminations.
“Definitely excited to come back to the scene of my first final,” Wilkerson said. “The last two weeks have been incredibly frustrating for our SCAG Summit Ford team, and our fearless leader Tim is making some significant changes so we are excited to make runs and see if we can zero in on our problem.”
Crew chief Tim Wilkerson, Daniel’s father, has had his own success at zMAX. Tim won at the facility as recently as 2021 when he defeated Cruz Pedregon in the fall Carolina Nationals. He also won the spring event in 2016 and picked up a No. 1 qualifier in the fall of 2012.
The Wilkerson’s will be looking to bounce back from two first-round losses that have shifted them into 10th in Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series points standings. They started the NHRA Countdown to the Championship, NHRA’s six race playoffs, sitting eighth.
The NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway, race two of the Countdown, will begin competition with four rounds of qualifying Friday at 5:00 and 7:30 p.m. and Saturday at 1:30 and 4:00 p.m. Eliminations will be Sunday at noon. Television coverage of the event will air on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) with qualifying shows Friday at 7:00 p.m. ET and Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET. Eliminations will air Sunday at 3:00 p.m. ET.
This story was originally published on September 19, 2024. 
