Wilkerson reunited with his “old girl” and all is good in his world.

Wilkerson’s “old girl” is the Springfield, Ill.-based Funny car driver’s chassis that he ran in 2008, the same year he finished second in the championship standings on the strength of six wins in seven final rounds.

Wilkerson and his reliable chassis certainly had a certain kind of magic at the NHRA Gatornationals, the third race on the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle season. He stopped teammate Bob Tasca III in the final round with his second quickest run of the weekend, a 4.097 at 303.78 miles per hour.

He believes he and the broken-in race car had a measure of mojo throughout race day.

Wilkerson reunited with his “old girl” and all is good in his world.

Wilkerson’s “old girl” is the Springfield, Ill.-based Funny Car driver’s chassis that he ran in 2008, the same year he finished second in the championship standings on the strength of six wins in seven final rounds.

Wilkerson and his reliable chassis certainly had a certain kind of magic at the NHRA Gatornationals, the third race on the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle season. He stopped teammate Bob Tasca III in the final round with his second quickest run of the weekend, a 4.097 at 303.78 miles per hour.

He believes he and the broken-in race car had a measure of mojo throughout race day.

“I shouldn’t have made it past the first round, but sometimes you have the luck of the draw,” said Wilkerson of his first round win against Jeff Arend. “I think we used our lucky run up on that round. I look back on my whole day and no one went down the track against me, so I had the mojo going on.”

Wilkerson went on to score wins over newly christened speed record holder and No. 1 qualifier Matt Hagan, and Tony Pedregon in the quarters and semifinal rounds, respectively.

Sunday’s victory marked his 14th in 21 career finals and first since Sonoma last season.

The most impressive part of his performances? Wilkerson competed in the same car crashed last September by Daniel. The car is now cloaked under a 2010 Shelby Mustang body, a body which provides a noticeable upgrade over its predecessor. The swoopy new body cloaking a proven chassis makes for a good combination.

“This car is a real friendly car and it makes you look good when you use it,” he explained. “I put my kid in it last year and he ran good in it … No. 6 on the list. He only made two runs with it and we were looking good until the wheels fell off of it.”

The trust factor in the chassis has provided a good measure of the same confidence he used to barnstorm the 2008 season. This is the same level of trust he believes has made some of drag racing’s greatest champions – namely 14-time Funny car champion John Force.

“I made some good runs and the car went down the track every time this weekend. When you can do that, it’s good for my guys to get the practice and it’s good for me in the car and to figure the car out.”

Of course, part of the lure to the proven chassis is the weight factor. Wilkerson estimates the chassis ran in Gainesville is about 60 pounds lighter than the standard three rail cars the Ford team has run for the past two seasons.

“I promise you I am the heaviest guy in a Ford,” Wilkerson admitted. “When you put all of that together, you have a problem getting that mass to move. Don Garlits hit it on the head 25 years ago, 100 pounds is a tenth of a second.

“When you look at the fact this car is actually 60 pounds lighter than those other cars. That makes it a lot friendlier car to tune and a lot friendlier car for me. I think that’s going to be the difference for me. This car was so safe every round that I couldn’t believe it. I think we are going to have something for them when we have to run 4.0’s to win the championship. I think we’re gonna have something for them when it’s hot. I hope we can wear them out.”

Meeting his teammate and defending event champion Tasca in the finals was a special treat and even though he hadn’t won a round entering this event, winning the race wasn’t a necessity to make the day a complete success.

“What a great day for our alliance,” Wilkerson exclaimed. “This is what Bob and I have been working towards for the last two years. We were stoked before the finals. We are the kind of teammates that it didn’t matter which one of us won. It’s really been a good relationship and we have some good things coming on the horizon.”

Chances are, Wilk and the “old girl” will be there, celebrating together.