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Thursday - April 19, 2007 - Follow The Leader
Del Worsham brought out his new red Checker, Schuck's, Kragen Impala in Las Vegas, and drove it to a No. 10 qualifying position before defeating Gary Densham in the first round, on a hole-shot. The round win was the first for an Impala in the Funny Car class. Next week, when the tour crosses the country from west to east to resume action at Atlanta Dragway, Jeff Arend will be following the boss's lead, as he will be running the CSK blue team's first Impala. Worsham's advice to his teammate included this comment. "It's different, in that you sit a lot further back in this car than in the Monte Carlo. But, it's an easy car to see out of, it handles very well, and there was really no learning curve at all for us. It was like 'plug and play.' We just put it on the car, went down the track, and qualified 10th."
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Keep An Eye Out For The Madman
Del Worsham and Jeff Arend may each have their first Chevy Impala bodies, but that doesn't mean the Impala deliveries are over at Team CSK's Orange, Calif. shop. Worsham has already ordered additional bodies for use as back-up cars, and one Impala for use strictly as the blue team's "special edition" body. That body will remain unpainted, and will be adorned in a series of full vinyl wraps. First up, the bright yellow "Madman Murray" car, to promote the Murray's Discount Auto chain, located in the midwest and owned by CSK Auto. Look for the Madman in both Chicago (June 7-10) and Norwalk (June 29 - July 1.)
Though Arend is in his first year as the CSK blue team driver, this will not be the first time he's ever driven the Murray's car. He joined Worsham Racing for one race in 2006, putting the Murray's car into the show at St. Louis. Later this season, the same body will be wrapped in both Techron and Havoline colors, for two more "special edition" looks.
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Blue Max Sighting
Del and Chuck Worsham's pet side-project, their Blue Max nostalgia Funny Car, may make an appearance this weekend. Worsham is planning on entering the car in the one-day Nostalgia Nitro Shootout event, at Auto Club Dragway in Fontana, Calif. In real throw-back tradition, the father and son team will be handling much of the wrench turning, as well. "Our teams are all on the move right now, in various parts of the country, and they have the weekend off," Worsham said. "So, it's just me, my dad, Marc Denner, and Grant Downing. We'll split up the duties and do all the work ourselves, which is fun for one weekend. I'm just not sure who is going to draw the short straw and have to do the bottom end."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Still Moving Up, But Don't Look Behind You...
Del Worsham's quarterfinal finish in Las Vegas moved him into the No. 10 spot in the POWERade points rankings. That's an improvement of 10 positions on the chart in just two races, as he was 20th in points coming out of Gainesville. Though Worsham is clearly now in the running for the 8-car Countdown playoff field, and is only two rounds out of 6th place at this time, he is also only one round ahead of Gary Densham, who currently sits in the 16th position. To say the field is "tightly bunched" is an understatement. "Well, right now Ron Capps and Robert Hight are kind of dominating all the rounds, and the rest of us are all plugging away trying to get every round we can," Worsham said. "So, what you end up with is a whole bunch of good cars with about the same points total. On one hand, you can say it's still early because we've only run five races, but you have to remember there are now only 12 more races to go before the Countdown field is set. It's going to be pretty tense as we move into the summer, and every round is going to move you up or down in the standings. Right now, we could go to Atlanta and easily come out of there 6th, which is amazing considering where we were just two races ago, but we could also come out of there 13th, 14th, maybe even 15th. You just have to focus on yourself, because you can't control what all these other teams are doing."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On The Other Hand...
While Worsham has been rocketing up the chart, Jeff Arend has been holding his own in the top eight, though he hasn't won a round since Pomona. Arend was 3rd in the points after Pomona, then held the 7th spot after Phoenix, Gainesville, and Houston. He now sits 8th, after an incredibly narrow loss to Ron Capps in round one at Las Vegas. "It's just the weirdness of the points deal, I guess," Arend said. "As it's worked out, the guys at the top have kept winning, while Cruz Pedregon, Mike Ashley, Jack Beckman, and Del have all DNQd at least once, and they're all in the top 10. The keys to making the Countdown field are doing all you can to avoid the DNQ bug, but it's going to bite just about everyone, and then winning at least the first round. If you average a second-round finish, you'll make the Countdown. It's that simple. We just have to get back on the other side of these photo finishes, and part of that comes from qualifying better. Nobody is easy out here, but you're going to run well and lose a few if you're always running guys like Robert Hight or Ron Capps in round one."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Will This Fit In That Tube At The Bank?
Worsham Racing's Team Manager, Bob Wilber, came home from Las Vegas with more money than he arrived with, but much of that had to do with the final payoff from a season-long NHL hockey pool, in which a number of NHRA people had been involved. Drivers Jeff Arend and Bob Vandergriff entered fantasy teams in the pool, as did crew chiefs Rob Flynn and Jimmy Prock, along with ESPN announcer Dave Rieff, car designer Greg Ozubko, Wilber's Team CSK teammate Terry Snyder, and many others. Wilber's fantasy team finished the season at the top of the list, so Vandergriff and Flynn presented him with the $500 winner's share on Sunday morning in Las Vegas. In true Vegas slot machine fashion, they made the payment in quarters! The hefty casino bag contained exactly 2,000 quarters, though Wilber was able to exchange the silver for paper money before flying home after the race.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Next Stop, The Aptly Named "Atlanta Dragway"
After a weekend off, the NHRA POWERade tour will reconvene at Atlanta Dragway on April 26th. Where is Atlanta Dragway? It's in Commerce, Georgia, which is located nearly 100 miles to the northeast of Atlanta's airport. Commerce is due north of Athens, and is actually closer to the South Carolina border than it is to Atlanta. There appears to be no truth to the rumor that the original name of the venue was "Almost In The Middle Of Nowhere Dragway." The track sits just south of the town of Homer, Georgia, leading many to think it could someday be renamed "D'Oh! Dragway."
"News Bits" from the Checker, Schuck's, Kragen Funny Car team.
Thursday - April 19, 2007 - Follow The Leader
Del Worsham brought out his new red Checker, Schuck's, Kragen Impala in Las Vegas, and drove it to a No. 10 qualifying position before defeating Gary Densham in the first round, on a hole-shot. The round win was the first for an Impala in the Funny Car class. Next week, when the tour crosses the country from west to east to resume action at Atlanta Dragway, Jeff Arend will be following the boss's lead, as he will be running the CSK blue team's first Impala. Worsham's advice to his teammate included this comment. "It's different, in that you sit a lot further back in this car than in the Monte Carlo. But, it's an easy car to see out of, it handles very well, and there was really no learning curve at all for us. It was like 'plug and play.' We just put it on the car, went down the track, and qualified 10th."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Keep An Eye Out For The Madman
Del Worsham and Jeff Arend may each have their first Chevy Impala bodies, but that doesn't mean the Impala deliveries are over at Team CSK's Orange, Calif. shop. Worsham has already ordered additional bodies for use as back-up cars, and one Impala for use strictly as the blue team's "special edition" body. That body will remain unpainted, and will be adorned in a series of full vinyl wraps. First up, the bright yellow "Madman Murray" car, to promote the Murray's Discount Auto chain, located in the midwest and owned by CSK Auto. Look for the Madman in both Chicago (June 7-10) and Norwalk (June 29 - July 1.)
Though Arend is in his first year as the CSK blue team driver, this will not be the first time he's ever driven the Murray's car. He joined Worsham Racing for one race in 2006, putting the Murray's car into the show at St. Louis. Later this season, the same body will be wrapped in both Techron and Havoline colors, for two more "special edition" looks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Blue Max Sighting
Del and Chuck Worsham's pet side-project, their Blue Max nostalgia Funny Car, may make an appearance this weekend. Worsham is planning on entering the car in the one-day Nostalgia Nitro Shootout event, at Auto Club Dragway in Fontana, Calif. In real throw-back tradition, the father and son team will be handling much of the wrench turning, as well. "Our teams are all on the move right now, in various parts of the country, and they have the weekend off," Worsham said. "So, it's just me, my dad, Marc Denner, and Grant Downing. We'll split up the duties and do all the work ourselves, which is fun for one weekend. I'm just not sure who is going to draw the short straw and have to do the bottom end."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Still Moving Up, But Don't Look Behind You...
Del Worsham's quarterfinal finish in Las Vegas moved him into the No. 10 spot in the POWERade points rankings. That's an improvement of 10 positions on the chart in just two races, as he was 20th in points coming out of Gainesville. Though Worsham is clearly now in the running for the 8-car Countdown playoff field, and is only two rounds out of 6th place at this time, he is also only one round ahead of Gary Densham, who currently sits in the 16th position. To say the field is "tightly bunched" is an understatement. "Well, right now Ron Capps and Robert Hight are kind of dominating all the rounds, and the rest of us are all plugging away trying to get every round we can," Worsham said. "So, what you end up with is a whole bunch of good cars with about the same points total. On one hand, you can say it's still early because we've only run five races, but you have to remember there are now only 12 more races to go before the Countdown field is set. It's going to be pretty tense as we move into the summer, and every round is going to move you up or down in the standings. Right now, we could go to Atlanta and easily come out of there 6th, which is amazing considering where we were just two races ago, but we could also come out of there 13th, 14th, maybe even 15th. You just have to focus on yourself, because you can't control what all these other teams are doing."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On The Other Hand...
While Worsham has been rocketing up the chart, Jeff Arend has been holding his own in the top eight, though he hasn't won a round since Pomona. Arend was 3rd in the points after Pomona, then held the 7th spot after Phoenix, Gainesville, and Houston. He now sits 8th, after an incredibly narrow loss to Ron Capps in round one at Las Vegas. "It's just the weirdness of the points deal, I guess," Arend said. "As it's worked out, the guys at the top have kept winning, while Cruz Pedregon, Mike Ashley, Jack Beckman, and Del have all DNQd at least once, and they're all in the top 10. The keys to making the Countdown field are doing all you can to avoid the DNQ bug, but it's going to bite just about everyone, and then winning at least the first round. If you average a second-round finish, you'll make the Countdown. It's that simple. We just have to get back on the other side of these photo finishes, and part of that comes from qualifying better. Nobody is easy out here, but you're going to run well and lose a few if you're always running guys like Robert Hight or Ron Capps in round one."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Will This Fit In That Tube At The Bank?
Worsham Racing's Team Manager, Bob Wilber, came home from Las Vegas with more money than he arrived with, but much of that had to do with the final payoff from a season-long NHL hockey pool, in which a number of NHRA people had been involved. Drivers Jeff Arend and Bob Vandergriff entered fantasy teams in the pool, as did crew chiefs Rob Flynn and Jimmy Prock, along with ESPN announcer Dave Rieff, car designer Greg Ozubko, Wilber's Team CSK teammate Terry Snyder, and many others. Wilber's fantasy team finished the season at the top of the list, so Vandergriff and Flynn presented him with the $500 winner's share on Sunday morning in Las Vegas. In true Vegas slot machine fashion, they made the payment in quarters! The hefty casino bag contained exactly 2,000 quarters, though Wilber was able to exchange the silver for paper money before flying home after the race.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Next Stop, The Aptly Named "Atlanta Dragway"
After a weekend off, the NHRA POWERade tour will reconvene at Atlanta Dragway on April 26th. Where is Atlanta Dragway? It's in Commerce, Georgia, which is located nearly 100 miles to the northeast of Atlanta's airport. Commerce is due north of Athens, and is actually closer to the South Carolina border than it is to Atlanta. There appears to be no truth to the rumor that the original name of the venue was "Almost In The Middle Of Nowhere Dragway." The track sits just south of the town of Homer, Georgia, leading many to think it could someday be renamed "D'Oh! Dragway."
