DESPITE CIRCULAR SUCCESS, WILKINS DRIVES A STRAIGHT LINE Chases Fourth Consecutive Top Sportsman Title in Rockingham’s Lucas Series Event ROCKINGHAM, N.C. – (Oct. 14, 2019) Sandy Wilkins has designed and built engines that have powered drivers to podium finishes from Daytona Beach, Fla., to Le Mans, France, Hockenheim, Germany to Spa, Belgium, Barcelona, Spain, to Wall Township, N.J. Whether in the World Endurance Championship, the World Rally Series, Formula Drift or NASCAR, Wilkins’ motors have run circles around the competition and yet, when the Mt. Ulla resident decided to field his own race car, he opted for drag racing’s straight line quarter mile. It’s a decision expected to pay another dividend when the talented Carolinian competes this week in the final east coast event in the NHRA’s Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series with a chance to add a fourth straight Southeast Division Top Sportsman Championship to his resume. After a Friday qualifying program that concludes with the Moser Sportsman Shootout at 6 p.m., champions will be crowned Saturday in Top Dragster, Competition Eliminator, Super Stock, Stock, Super Comp, Super Gas and Super Street in addition to Top Sportsman. A large number of those battling for Lucas Oil points then are expected to stay over to run Sunday’s NHRA National Open on the eighth-mile. Adult tickets for the weekend doubleheader are $25 a day or $60 for a three-day pass. Children six-to-12 are $10 daily with children under six free when accompanied by a ticketed adult. Few individuals can boast a more diverse motorsports career than Wilkins, who started racing in the World Karting Association at age 14 before graduating a year later to SCCA sports cars While attending North Carolina State University, where he earned a B.A. in Technology Education, Wilkins got his first taste of drag racing working weekends as a crewman on Kenneth Tripp’s “Bad Medicine” 1941 Willys Pro Modified. Upon graduation, he went to work for NASCAR engine builder Charlie Long before opening his own engine shop in Raleigh. The success of Wilkins Motorsports Racing Engines led to the opportunity of a lifetime when Wilkins was retained as the Drag Racing Program Manager for Roush Yates Performance Engine Group. Nevertheless, in his eight years at Roush Yates, Wilkins’ role has expanded far beyond drag racing. He was an integral part of the engine building team for the latest Ford GT Prototype, for instance, that carried Sebastien Bourdais, Joey Hand and Dirk Muller to victory at LeMans in 2016. “Upper management nicknamed me ‘the unicorn wrangler,’” Wilkins said, “due to the uniqueness of most of my engine builds. If it’s a special project pushrod engine, the build usually falls under my supervision. “I put together Ken Block’s Hoonicom Mustang engine and the motor for (Formula Drift driver) Vaughn Gittins Jr.,” he said. “Block’s car, that was definitely one of the most unique, because it is a twin-turbo, 410 cubic inch small block that makes about 1,500 horsepower. “(For Gittins), I built a 950 horsepower, normally aspirated, fuel injected RY45,” he continued. “The RY45 is a four-and-a-half inch bore spacing aluminum small block, a really unique engine.” It’s an engine Wilkins has been developing for a drag racing application that he hopes to debut in a dragster in 2020. Meantime, he’ll continue to campaign the Rock Batteries-sponsored 1969 Chevy Camaro replica in which he has dominated Top Sportsman competition in the Southeast, in which he has finished as high as second in national points (2017) and in which he went to the winners’ circle earlier this year at the NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville, Fla. The NHRA Sportsman weekend begins with a test-and-tune opportunity from 1-6 p.m. Thursday. Top Sportsman, Top Dragster and Competition Eliminator qualifying sessions at 11 a.m., 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. Friday will lead into the Moser Shootout. ROCKINGHAM, N.C. – Race winners in Lucas Oil Series events preceding Saturday’s final 2019 NHRA Southeast Division points race at Rockingham Dragway: Feb. 1 Orlando, Fla. Top Dragster – Maverick Palmatier, Deland, Fla. Top Sportsman – Sandy Wilkins, Mt. Ulla, 1969 Chevy Camaro Competition – Jenny Treadwell, North Plymouth, Fla., dragster Super Stock – Marion Stephenson, Williamsport, Ind., 2006 Chevy Stock – Jeff Hairrington, Kathleen, Ga., 2014 Ford Mustang Super Comp – Brian Guthrie, Chesterfield, Va., dragster Super Gas – John Labbous Jr., White House, Tenn., 1963 Chevy Corvette Super Street – Robbie Welch, Mechanicsville, Md., 1966 Ford Fairlane Feb. 22 Valdosta, Ga. Top Dragster – Carson Brown, Blountville, Tenn. Top Sportsman – Scott Underwood, Madison, Ala., 2002 Chevy Camaro Competition – Randy Daniels, Grantsboro, 2007 Pontiac Super Stock – Marion Stephenson, Williamsport, Ind., 2006 Chevy Stock – Jeff Longhany, Wade, 2000 Pontiac Firebird Super Comp – Raymond Miller III, Spring City, Tenn., dragster Super Gas – Michael Ruff, Orlando, Fla., 1967 Chevy Camaro Super Street – Robert Ward, Sanford, Fla., 1972 Chevy March 7 Gainesville, Fla. Top Dragster – Ross Laris, Raceland, La. Top Sportsman – Derrick Brown, Winston-Salem, 2000 Chevy S-10 truck Competition – Van Puckett, Monroe, Ga., 2005 Chevy Cavalier Super Stock – Tyler Caheely, Rock Springs, Ga., 2000 Chevy Stock – Jim Wahl, Deltona, Fla., 1976 Plymouth Road Runner Super Comp – Raymond Miller III, Spring City, Tenn., dragster Super Gas – Cole Cummings, Hammond, La., 1966 Chevy II Super Street – Jimmy Daniel, Mongomery, Ala., 1963 Pontiac Tempest April 12 Atlanta, Ga. Top Dragster – Jeff Strickland, Red Bay, Ala. Top Sportsman – David Tatum, Palmetto, Ga., 2003 Chevy truck Competition – Glen Treadwell, Sorrento, Fla., dragster Super Stock – Emily Volkman, Campobello, S.C., 1969 Chevy Camaro Stock – Jeff Strickland, Red Bay, Ala., 2019 Chevy Camaro Super Comp – Raymond Miller III, Spring City, Tenn., dragster Super Gas – Craig Porter, Silver Spring, Md., 2004 Ford Mustang Super Street – Jonathan Anderson, Williamson, Ga., 2005 Pontiac Sept. 28 Benson, N.C. Top Dragster – Jeff Strickland, Red Bay, Ala., Top Sportsman – Ronald Proctor, Harpers Ferry, West Va., 2009 Ford Cobra Competition – Van Puckett, Monroe, Ga., 2005 Chevy Cavalier Super Stock – Cameron Tingen, Henderson, 1995 Oldsmobile Achieva Stock – Jeff Hairrington, Kathleen, Ga., 2014 Ford Mustang Super Comp – Raymond Miller III, Spring City, Tenn., dragster Super Gas – Raymond Miller III, Spring City, Tenn., 1968 Chevy Camaro Super Street – Michael Harris, Norwood, 1980 Chevy Camaro