Every analysis of professional sports demographics seems to come to the same conclusion:  Drag racing's fan base is a unique and interesting lot, made up of devoted, loyal, and enthusiastic people who may have a favorite driver or team, but who are fans of the sport, first and foremost.  With all 23 NHRA national events being hosted at what would be considered "neutral sites" for any "stick and ball" sport, the typical Full Throttle crowd is mostly there for the thrills, although they're quick to wear the colors of their favorite driver.  Even so, should "Favorite Driver A" fail to win, most of them are not opposed to shifting to Plan B, to root for the next guy, or woman, to win the Wally.

Some pro drivers are certainly more popular than others, to the point where public interaction can become a problem in a pit area blanketed by wall-to-wall humanity.  NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing prides itself on driver and team access, but overwhelming popularity often comes at a price, and that crush of public interest can wear down the folks on both sides of the ropes, often making the autograph experience little more than a momentary brush with a hero.  One thing that has become clear though, over the past few years, is the unique bond between a rapidly growing group of fans and a Funny Car star by the name of Tim Wilkerson, the driver of the Levi, Ray & Shoup Shelby Mustang.  If, at first blush, that connection seems slightly different and more personal, that's simply an indication that first impressions are generally correct.  There is clearly something different going on here.

Every analysis of professional sports demographics seems to come to the same conclusion:  Drag racing's fan base is a unique and interesting lot, made up of devoted, loyal, and enthusiastic people who may have a favorite driver or team, but who are fans of the sport, first and foremost.  With all 23 NHRA national events being hosted at what would be considered "neutral sites" for any "stick and ball" sport, the typical Full Throttle crowd is mostly there for the thrills, although they're quick to wear the colors of their favorite driver.  Even so, should "Favorite Driver A" fail to win, most of them are not opposed to shifting to Plan B, to root for the next guy, or woman, to win the Wally.

Some pro drivers are certainly more popular than others, to the point where public interaction can become a problem in a pit area blanketed by wall-to-wall humanity.  NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing prides itself on driver and team access, but overwhelming popularity often comes at a price, and that crush of public interest can wear down the folks on both sides of the ropes, often making the autograph experience little more than a momentary brush with a hero.  One thing that has become clear though, over the past few years, is the unique bond between a rapidly growing group of fans and a Funny Car star by the name of Tim Wilkerson, the driver of the Levi, Ray & Shoup Shelby Mustang.  If, at first blush, that connection seems slightly different and more personal, that's simply an indication that first impressions are generally correct.  There is clearly something different going on here.

Whereas some pro drivers burst upon the scene as relative unknowns, Wilkerson seems to have seeped into the fabric of the NHRA fan base over the course of many years, and that slow evolution allowed him to remain true to the core midwestern values he still exhibits.  The Springfield, Ill. owner/driver developed his following one person at a time, the same way he developed his customer base at Wilkerson Service Center, his full-time business in his home town.

"Around here, I was just the guy who owned a few gas stations and drag raced on weekends, so a lot of people around Springfield got to know me that way," Wilkerson said.  "I'd change your oil, rotate your tires, fix your brakes, and fill your car up with regular.  When I got out of the gasoline business, I opened our service center here, and we brought a lot of customers with us; people who knew they could trust us to do the job right.  By the time we sold the Top Alcohol Funny Car  and went nitro racing, back in 1996, we had enough friends, family, and customers around here to have a following from the first day.  It was like we decided to go drag racing in the big time, and we looked around to find that a lot of people had come along with us.  That was pretty cool."

While Wilkerson toiled away in the pro ranks, showing flashes of brilliance but not yet exhibiting the sort of consistent performance that would one day hoist him into the rarified air of massive popularity, that local fan base began to grow, and he gradually became a source of pride for an entire community.  In the midst of that ever-expanding group of backers were a loosely aligned band of super-fans who began to call themselves Wilk's Warriors, as well as a primary sponsor with its world headquarters located right there in Wilkerson's own hometown.  The confluence of those individual circumstances were, in the end, greater than the sum of their parts.

With Levi, Ray & Shoup on-board, Wilkerson had the support and the wherewithal to expand his operation, and push the limits a little more.  With each television appearance and autograph session came new fans, who could instantly spot the honesty and integrity LRS and the Wilk Warriors had long recognized.  By the time 2008 rolled around, Wilkerson's on-track performance was about to launch him into supernova status, but his approach to racing and life never changed.  The crowds were bigger, the autograph lines were longer, but the man remained the same.

"What makes Tim unique is the same thing that makes him such a great ambassador for LRS," said Shannon Heisler, Senior Manager, Marketing Services at Levi, Ray & Shoup.  "He has his longtime fan base, people that go back decades with him, but he still treats every new person he meets in the same way.  When fans at the track or clients of ours meet him, they come away feeling like they got to know him a little bit, rather than feeling like they just got shake his hand.  I don't know how he's done it, but he's been able to stay the same when it comes to that sort of interaction, despite the fact he's so much more well-known and popular now.  We couldn't ask for a better spokesperson than Tim Wilkerson."

Having won eight races in the past two years, while finishing second and fourth in the points in '08 and '09 respectively, it's clear that Tim Wilkerson is now a man of stature on the NHRA landscape.  His fervent band of Wilk's Warriors continues to grow, although the group will forever mourn the loss of "Big Mark" Benson, one of its true founding members and most loyal supporters who lost his battle with diabetes in 2009.  Dan "Dozer" Hough, one of Benson's closest friends and Wilkerson's biggest fans, carries the torch for the group, and he continues the all-inclusive and all-welcoming theme.

"People ask how they can become one of Wilk's Warriors, and I tell them they already are because it's just a state of mind, not an actual club," Hough said.  "We don't have membership cards or secret handshakes.  All we share is an appreciation for one of the truly great guys in all of professional sports.  He's a guy a lot of us have known for so long it gets hard to comprehend that he's a big star now, because he's exactly the same person we've known forever.  I can still stop-in at Wilkerson Service Center and find him working there, just like he was years ago, and I'm not sure how many other pro drag racers are able to stay true like that.  

"The last couple of years have been incredible, and there are Warriors all over the globe now.  I think it's just so easy tell what kind of person Tim is, and people relate to that.  He's the guy who fixes your car and tells a funny joke.  When he shakes your hand he looks you right in the eye.  He's a family man and a leader.  He's the pride of Springfield!"

That he is, and over the past couple of years his status in Central Illinois has been elevated by the local media.  Springfield may be the capital of Illinois, but the population has no local professional sports franchises and no major college teams to root for.  Springfield residents have long aligned themselves with the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, or University of Illinois Fighting Illini, but they now have their own Springfield-based sports team to cheer for, and it's backed by a successful international technology company that has also stayed anchored to its Springfield roots.

"I might just be the luckiest guy in the sport, if you know what I mean," Wilkerson said.  "I grew up here, this is my home town, and I'll never leave.  I built a business here, and I can walk in just about any local restaurant and know half the people in there.  My sponsor is based here, and that relationship is just as personal as any of them.  I met Dick Levi because I worked on his cars, so I considered him a valued customer for long time before he became my sponsor, and now we feel like the whole company is part of the family.  If we were based in St. Louis or Chicago, we'd be lost in the mix and it wouldn't be like this.  Springfield is a special place, and I wouldn't change a thing."

NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing is full of loyal fans, made up of folks from every walk of life.  But, there's clearly something special going on with the Funny Car driver from Springfield, Ill.  This bond runs deep, and it continues to strengthen.

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