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DALLAS (September 19, 2006) -- After a great moment, it's always nice to have a little extra time to bask in the afterglow of one's success. Conversely, when the moment is of negative persuasion, the last thing a competitor wants is extra time to stew over the tribulations and disappointments. Apparently, Mother Nature wanted Del Worsham to deal with his DNQ at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals just a little longer, as rain postponed last weekend's event in eastern Pennsylvania, creating an 19-day span between competitive laps on the race track for the Checker, Schuck's, Kragen Funny Car driver.
After having dealt with the crushing emotion of the Indy situation, Worsham picked himself up off the mat and put 100 percent of his focus on the Reading race, chomping at the bit to get back on the track in order to erase those memories. Confident in his car, and in himself, Worsham was pacing like a caged animal while waiting for Friday's first qualifying session, but his waiting game never ended at soggy Maple Grove. Now, nearly three weeks since his final pass at Indy came up 5-thousandths of a second short, Worsham has his eye on the Texas Motorplex, a venue near and dear to his heart.
"I got my Funny Car license at the Texas Motorplex, we ran our first 4-second run here, and we've won here a couple of times, so it's definitely one of my favorite tracks," Worsham said. "First of all, it's a great facility, with a phenomenal racing surface. The staff people are great, the fans are great, and hopefully the weather will be great, too. Maybe the best thing about the 'Plex is that, if the weather cooperates at all, it's not a track where you have to concentrate on finessing the tune-up too much. It's the only all-concrete track on the tour, so you can be pretty aggressive the whole way. In our situation, that's what we want. We want to be aggressive, and the Motorplex usually rewards that.
"I'd also like to add another highlight to my Dallas scrapbook. It was late in 1990 when my dad put me in the car and we got the licensing procedure done here. It was 1998 when we ran 4.98 to join the Castrol 4-Second club. We've won here twice, in 2002 and 2004, so it's pretty easy to see why we love this place. Hopefully, we'll love it even more by the end of the weekend."
If mental stress was taking its toll on Worsham and his hard-working CSK crew, physical strain will most likely join the party now. What had been a rather gentle autumn schedule, with a week off after Indy and a week off after Dallas, is now a bit more of a marathon. Though the Reading event was rained out, the teams still had to make the trip to Pennsylvania and spend most of the weekend there. Once the plug was pulled, Team CSK made a quick stop at their Auburn, Ind. shop and then headed straight for Dallas. The reworked schedule now has them heading directly back to Reading, and then on to Richmond the following weekend, making this a four-in-a-row swing.
"Our guys are used to this sort of thing, but this one might be a little tougher than most, just because of the circumstances," Worsham said. "It wasn't just me who wanted to get back on the track as soon as possible. My guys were itching to race, too, and all we got to do in Reading was get wet. It's nearing the end of the year now, when the guys get a little more tired, so we're just going to have to suck it up and get this done.
"I know that once the guys have the pit set up in Dallas, everyone's focus will be on that first qualifying run on Friday. No one will be thinking about the rain in Reading, or the long drive, or even the fact we have to go back to Reading and then straight to Richmond. None of that will matter. We'll warm the car up on Friday afternoon, and that's when the excitement will start to build. We'll get up there to the starting line, and we'll go for it. When you're up there, running the race car, nothing else really matters. When the racing adrenaline kicks in, it doesn't matter how tired you were 15 minutes ago."
Nor does it matter how tired, or disappointed, you were 19 days ago. Friday's first lap in Dallas will offer Del Worsham the chance to cleanse the negative thoughts he's been having to babysit since Labor Day. There might be no better place to do that than the Texas Motorplex.
DALLAS BECOMES FOCUS OF WORSHAM'S REBOUND
DALLAS (September 19, 2006) -- After a great moment, it's always nice to have a little extra time to bask in the afterglow of one's success. Conversely, when the moment is of negative persuasion, the last thing a competitor wants is extra time to stew over the tribulations and disappointments. Apparently, Mother Nature wanted Del Worsham to deal with his DNQ at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals just a little longer, as rain postponed last weekend's event in eastern Pennsylvania, creating an 19-day span between competitive laps on the race track for the Checker, Schuck's, Kragen Funny Car driver.
After having dealt with the crushing emotion of the Indy situation, Worsham picked himself up off the mat and put 100 percent of his focus on the Reading race, chomping at the bit to get back on the track in order to erase those memories. Confident in his car, and in himself, Worsham was pacing like a caged animal while waiting for Friday's first qualifying session, but his waiting game never ended at soggy Maple Grove. Now, nearly three weeks since his final pass at Indy came up 5-thousandths of a second short, Worsham has his eye on the Texas Motorplex, a venue near and dear to his heart.
"I got my Funny Car license at the Texas Motorplex, we ran our first 4-second run here, and we've won here a couple of times, so it's definitely one of my favorite tracks," Worsham said. "First of all, it's a great facility, with a phenomenal racing surface. The staff people are great, the fans are great, and hopefully the weather will be great, too. Maybe the best thing about the 'Plex is that, if the weather cooperates at all, it's not a track where you have to concentrate on finessing the tune-up too much. It's the only all-concrete track on the tour, so you can be pretty aggressive the whole way. In our situation, that's what we want. We want to be aggressive, and the Motorplex usually rewards that.
"I'd also like to add another highlight to my Dallas scrapbook. It was late in 1990 when my dad put me in the car and we got the licensing procedure done here. It was 1998 when we ran 4.98 to join the Castrol 4-Second club. We've won here twice, in 2002 and 2004, so it's pretty easy to see why we love this place. Hopefully, we'll love it even more by the end of the weekend."
If mental stress was taking its toll on Worsham and his hard-working CSK crew, physical strain will most likely join the party now. What had been a rather gentle autumn schedule, with a week off after Indy and a week off after Dallas, is now a bit more of a marathon. Though the Reading event was rained out, the teams still had to make the trip to Pennsylvania and spend most of the weekend there. Once the plug was pulled, Team CSK made a quick stop at their Auburn, Ind. shop and then headed straight for Dallas. The reworked schedule now has them heading directly back to Reading, and then on to Richmond the following weekend, making this a four-in-a-row swing.
"Our guys are used to this sort of thing, but this one might be a little tougher than most, just because of the circumstances," Worsham said. "It wasn't just me who wanted to get back on the track as soon as possible. My guys were itching to race, too, and all we got to do in Reading was get wet. It's nearing the end of the year now, when the guys get a little more tired, so we're just going to have to suck it up and get this done.
"I know that once the guys have the pit set up in Dallas, everyone's focus will be on that first qualifying run on Friday. No one will be thinking about the rain in Reading, or the long drive, or even the fact we have to go back to Reading and then straight to Richmond. None of that will matter. We'll warm the car up on Friday afternoon, and that's when the excitement will start to build. We'll get up there to the starting line, and we'll go for it. When you're up there, running the race car, nothing else really matters. When the racing adrenaline kicks in, it doesn't matter how tired you were 15 minutes ago."
Nor does it matter how tired, or disappointed, you were 19 days ago. Friday's first lap in Dallas will offer Del Worsham the chance to cleanse the negative thoughts he's been having to babysit since Labor Day. There might be no better place to do that than the Texas Motorplex.
