Talk about making your fans wait for an encore.

It has been nearly 18 years to the day since Tim Wilkerson last went to victory lane at the sport’s biggest race, last winning the U.S. Nationals back in 2003.

That day, Wilkerson upset Johnny Gray and a who’s who of Funny Car stars including names such as Skuza, Cannon and Scelzi to earn his second career national event victory. Since that day, his fans - affectionately known as Wilk’s Warriors - have been solidly behind the popular independent owner, tuner and driver, and have been waiting for a repeat of that win ever since.

On Sunday, Wilkerson delivered in a big way.

“I do have a great group of fans, there is no doubt about that,” Wilkerson said. “I was in the finals here in ‘97, ‘03 and ‘12. This place loves me, it really does. I usually run well here, and I have run a lot of races here. This place and I, we have a good relationship. It always treats me well and it did again this weekend.”

Wilkerson recorded a win for the ages Sunday at the Dodge SRT NHRA U.S. Nationals, overcoming a tricky track and another gauntlet of Funny Car competitors to collect his 21st career Camping World Drag Racing Series victory at Lucas Oil Raceway.

It was also Wilkerson’s first overall win since April of 2016, as he has recorded nine runner-up finishes since his last win five years ago.

“I couldn’t get that monkey off my back. Then we come to Indy and I blew that son of a buck right off my back and right under the back of the parachutes,” an elated Wilkerson said. “I am so tickled. To win the Big Go a second time, you can’t say anything else besides that.

“My guys are who I am happy for. Most of the guys on this team, besides Richard (Hartman), had never won a race, period. These guys are all new for me. That is what really makes me happy. We’ve been to so many finals with all of these kids and I couldn’t get that monkey off my back. Today, I threw the crap at the wall and, as they say, it stuck.”

Wilkerson joins an elite list of competitors that have won the U.S. Nationals more than once, earning that victory in a thriller against Ron Capps. With Capps looking for his own history on Sunday by earning his first-ever win at the Big Go, it was a battle of Funny Car titans on a bright, sunny afternoon in Indianapolis.

In that final round matchup, Capps got away first, but Wilkerson made up the difference by the Christmas tree and never trailed again for the win. Wilkerson recorded a 3.912-second pass at 320.36 mph in his Levi, Ray & Shoup Ford Mustang Funny Car, saving his best elapsed time of the weekend for the final.

Capps meanwhile crossed the stripe just behind his opponent with a 3.946 at 326.63 mph piloting his Napa Auto Parts Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car. It was Capps’ second-ever final round visit at the U.S. Nationals, last finishing as the runner-up in 2017.

“Capps has used me up the last two or three years. We have run a few times in the finals and he has whooped me every time,” Wilkerson said. “I told the guys (after the semifinal), ‘Guido (Dean Antonelli) just went 90 flat with Capps. They had better go 90 flat again because they ain’t ready for us.’

“We were lucky. You are in the finals and you know what NHRA is going to do (to the track). They have bit me before by tuning that track up before the final and this time I told Richard, ‘we are going to plan on that thing being great.’ I ran that thing like I was trying to run a night run. I parked it in the middle and you saw what it did.”

Wilkerson also had to overcome a slew of engine issues on Sunday, putting multiple motors in the car over the course of the weekend, including during the one-hour turnaround between the semifinals and finals.

“I am pretty proud of my guys,” Wilkerson said. “We had a lot of adversity and we put three motors in that car. We had an oil pump malfunction in the semis and it had no oil pressure from two seconds clean to the end. I don’t know how it didn’t break.”

The other theme throughout Sunday’s final eliminations was the difficulty of the track itself.

After rain washed out all on-track activities on Saturday, the track was green and when the heavier, more powerful nitro cars got a shot at it for the first time on Sunday, several teams lost traction and were unable to make a full pull. But as the afternoon progressed, the NHRA Safety Safari went to work and got both lanes working in proper order when it mattered most.

“NHRA did a great job on that right lane,” Wilkerson said. “It was pretty beat up this morning and I just went 91 down that lane. So great job everybody.”

Wilkerson reached his first final round since Gainesville in 2020 with an afternoon of consistent passes in wins over Bobby Bode, John Force and Cruz Pedregon.

The only blemish on that record was a round-one victory over 19-year-old Bode, as Wilkerson overcame a loss of traction and dropped cylinders to record a round win with a less-than-stellar 4.611 at 218.72 mph.

He then found his groove in a round two win over a Force, as the 16-time champion overpowered the track while Wilkerson cruised to a 3.974 at 297.81 mph. In the semifinal it was much of the same as Pedregon lost traction at the hit and Wilkerson powered to a 3.984 at 325.37 mph to reach his first final round of the year.

“I think everybody threw up against us except for Capps, and we had to whoop him. And we were lucky enough to do that,” Wilkerson said. “We were also lucky to win in that right lane against Cruz. I think those guys know now that you don’t go up there and just waddle down the track. (Pedregon) went 92 that last round and if they had done that again, they would have won the round. I think they stepped on it a little bit. That track is a little bit tricky in the middle, especially in the semis. That is always the worst it is going to be and I drug that thing back a little bit for that run. That wasn’t going to happen in the finals.”

Capps reached his third final round of the season with an afternoon of solid runs in the 3.90s. In fact, he was the only driver to consistently get down the track each time.

Capps collected wins over Justin Schriefer, Robert Hight and Alexis DeJoria to propel him into his second-career final round at the U.S. Nationals. He advanced past both of his tire-smoking first round opponents with passes of 3.903 and 3.952, before finally finding a race in the semifinals.

It wasn’t until the semifinal round that fans saw their first side-by-side nitro race under power. In that matchup, DeJoria had a slight reaction time advantage, but Capps made up that difference by the Christmas tree and cruised to the win with a 3.909 at 327.74 mph. DeJoria had a 3.992 at 323.04 mph.

Adding to the joy of Sunday’s victory were the obstacles Wilkerson’s team has had to overcome over the past few years. A smaller, independent team, Wilkerson has had his share of misfortunes over the years, which makes his win in Indy all that much sweeter.

“I go to each race with a 24 hour rule. After 24 hours, if we win or lose, it doesn’t matter anymore,” Wilkerson said. “I just go up there and try to run my car and not worry about what is going on around me. My guys do such a terrific job. I am 99 percent of the problem. If anything goes wrong, it is usually my fault. Our car very rarely does anything wrong.”

One of those errors took place earlier this year when Wilkerson had an on-track run-in with Pedregon in Topeka. That incident tore up the body on Wilkerson’s Mustang Funny Car, which left the team scrambling coming into this weekend.

“We were almost financially devastated from all of that. That body that I ran into Cruz with was brand new. It had two runs and I junked it,” Wilkerson said. “This is the car that I crashed when I ran into Cruz. We picked that thing up last Tuesday and spent all day Tuesday and half the day on Wednesday putting it together and then drove here Thursday morning.

“We are not a rich team. I try not to harp on that, but we have one Ford Mustang body left. One stinking body. And that body just won the U.S. Nationals.”

With his first win in five years in the books, and a ticket to the Countdown to the Championship that goes along with it, Wilkerson now shifts his focus from winning Indy, to winning it all. After all, if this team can win the biggest drag race in the world, why can’t it win a championship?

“We have a good car. I am never worried about that. Every weekend I say to myself, ‘here is the lane I’ve got. Here is the temperature. How fast can I go.’ That is all I care about,” Wilkerson said. “Now that my guys have got a taste of winning, they are ready now. They are pumped.”