Daniel Wilkerson has been getting ready for this moment in time for all his life. More specifically, he's been chomping at the bit for the last five years to get behind the wheel of a nitro Funny Car.

The moment has finally around.

“I’ve been looking forward to this moment since I got my first Super
Comp car when I was 16,” Wilkerson said. “I’ve just been taking steps
to get to this point. It took five years worth of work to get here.
It’s a huge relief to be here now.”

Over the course of those five years, Daniel Wilkerson, 21, spent time
honing his skills in the sportsman ranks before moving up to the Top
Alcohol Funny Car division. Last spring, he made his nitro debut at the
IHRA Motor City Nationals and after completing licensing that same
weekend, drove to the event runner-up spot.

Second year Top Alcohol Dragster pilot Courtney Force is ready to put
another school year at Cal State Fullerton in her rear view mirror. The
youngest of four Force daughters made first national event start in her
newly logoed Sanyo Supercharged HD Top Alcohol Dragster tuned by Jerry
Darien at the 21st annual NHRA O’Reilly Summer Nationals presented by
Castrol GTX this weekend.

“I am so excited. I am ready to get my racing routine and get back into
my race car. It will be nice to not have to worry about passing finals
or school and I can completely focus on racing. It will be fun to
travel every weekend and be with my family every weekend. I just love
being out in my race car. I don’t have any summer classes so I’ll be
able to spend more time with my race car which will be great,” said
Force.

John Force should have known better.

If you’re going to talk to the Snake … Don Prudhomme … don’t expect any
sympathy and most of all, don’t expect any sugarcoating of the obvious.

Force ran into Prudhomme, a team owner and drag racing legend whom
Force has idolized throughout his storied career, as he watched Ashley
make her run. The two legends struck up a conversation while waiting to
see if his daughter Ashley Force Hood’s provisional No. 1 run at the
NHRA Summernationals would hold up to the challenge of Ron Capps.

Atron Brown watched as Ashley Forced ran her way to the top spot in Funny Car qualifying and knew he needed
raise the bar on his Matco Tools dragster. Brown literally blew the bar
away with a 3.841 second pass, 315.71 mph, that left the field sucking
the hot Topeka air.
 
'The run went perfect,” said Brown. “We went for a top three spot. We
just put our heads down, the car was a little on the edge but it stuck
right down. I felt it bow up in the middle of the race track,
everything just got tight around me. My butt cheeks squirmerred up and
I just held on. When I went through the finish line I just held on.”

It was all Forces, all the time Friday night at Heartland Park-Topeka as Ashley Force Hood snatched the
provisional No. 1 qualifying position away from her father with a
jaw-dropping 4.107 second, 295.59 mile per hour effort that put her in
position to start her Castrol GTX Ford Mustang from the front for the
third time in four races.
 
 The 26-year-old phenom, who entered the 21st annual O’Reilly Summer
Nationals presented by Castrol GTX in fourth place in Full Throttle
points, had the best car by a ton in a night session that made up for
Friday afternoon performance futility.  Only two cars made it to the
finish line under power in a Friday afternoon qualifying session run on
a 120-plus degree racetrack.

On a day typical of the deep Midwest, one of the region’s finest Pro Stock drivers turned in what has been a typical performance for him this season.

Mike Edwards ran a 6.674 elapsed time at 206.29 miles per hour. If his
numbers hold, it will mark his fourth consecutive No. 1. Including
eliminations, Edwards has been the quickest car in ten consecutive
rounds of qualifying and eliminations.

“Any time we can come to the racetrack and have two runs with sunshine
that’s a good thing,” Edwards said. “We made a really nice run tonight.
We made a nice run the first pass too.”

Elon Werner, who usually plies his trade as crack PR rep for John Force
Racing, spent the weekend getting in touch with his feminine side at
the annual Texas Giant dance recital at the Cedar Hill Community Center.
 

If first impressions are everything, the drivers of the Get Screened
America Pro Mod Challenge are very impressed. The skies were sunny and
clear and the stands were full for the O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals
in Topeka, Kansas, marking the first time the Challenge has raced at
Heartland Park Topeka. A baker's dozen of cars took to the quarter-mile
and Matco Tools driver Joe Baker took the provisional bragging rights
for the class.
 
"This is an awesome facility," Baker said as he reveled in his number
one spot. The 2008 Rookie of the Year blasted to a 5.995/241.76 in the
first round and backed it up with a 5.974/241.63 in round two, with his
crew chief Chuck Ford breathing a sigh of relief.

It was a night of firsts at the IHRA Amalie Oil Texas Nationals Friday night in Crandall.

From the first competitive passes of each of IHRA’s 10 racing
categories to the first 300 mile per hour run, Dallas Raceway provided
plenty of thrills in its opening night.

And highlighting it all was the first round of professional qualifying by the world’s fastest cars – IHRA Top Fuel.

After a bit of a slow start to the season, Edmonton, Alberta native Tim
Boychuk showed why he was the hottest driver at the end of last season
with the low E.T. Friday night to top Top Fuel qualifying and claim
Friday’s Last Man Standing with a 4.811 elapsed time at 296.96 miles
per hour.

Ashley Force Hood held off her father and NHRA legend John Force to
claim the provisional No. 1 spot in Funny Car at the 21st annual O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka.

Antron Brown and Mike Edwards also took the provisional top spots in
their respective categories at the ninth of 24 events on the NHRA Full
Throttle Drag Racing Series.

Force Hood drove her Castrol GTX Ford Mustang to a 4.107-second pass at
295.59 mph to become the provisional top qualifier in Funny Car. If it
stands it would be Force Hood’s third No. 1 qualifier of the season,
sixth of her career and second consecutive No. 1 qualifier after taking
the No. 1 qualifier two weeks ago in Bristol.