SELF-DESCRIBED "CRUSHING BLOW" FELLS WORSHAM IN ROUND ONE
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Del Worsham put the two words together immediately, calling his opening round loss to Bob Tasca, which came on a hole-shot, a "crushing blow." After qualifying 4th here in Brainerd, and running a beautifully stout lap in round one, Worsham still had to accept a defeat in a season full of difficult moments. This one simply stung a little bit more than the others.
Having come into this race only two points behind Tasca, who arrived in Brainerd in 11th place on the points sheet, Worsham took care of his first assignment before race day even dawned. His strong No. 4 qualifying spot, earned with a solid 4.152 late on Friday afternoon, earned him enough single-digit points to reverse the lead, leap-frogging Tasca to take an equal two-point lead the other way. Worsham, therefore, entered Sunday's eliminations in 11th place, and as if scripted by the producers of "Dramatic Drag Racing" he drew Tasca for his first-round opponent.
Qualifying in Brainerd was held under generally sunny skies, in beautiful conditions, but the same sun that gently baked the massive Minnesota crowd also heated up the racing surface, making top-end tire spin a common occurrence. Knowing full well that the second Friday session would be the critical one, Worsham went to the line unsure of his tune-up approach.
"It was still pretty easy to spin the tires out there, and we weren't really sure what the track would hold so we waited to watch a few pairs of Funny Cars run ahead of us," he said. "Just about everyone had spun during the opening session, but we were able to get down there far enough to be the fifth-quickest, and that was important for the later run because it put us further back in line. That gave us the chance to hold off on the final tuning call until we saw some other cars run.
"When Ashely Force ran 4.11 in the same lane we were going to be in, we went with the more aggressive option, and that turned out to be a really big call on the part of my dad and me. It got us solidly up in the top half, earned us some big qualifying points, and really ended up helping us out a ton in U.S. Smokeless Showdown points, which we haven't even been paying attention to that much. You get zero Showdown points when you DNQ, and we've done that four times this year, so we all just kind of put that whole deal out of our minds. Right now, we're right there in it."
Worsham is, indeed, somehow right back in the thick of the Showdown race. He has been as many as 200 points out of the top eight during the season, but has been whittling away at the deficit with his recent string of strong qualifying efforts (U.S. Smokeless points are earned strictly on qualifying positions). Jerry Toliver came into Brainerd holding down the 8th and final spot for the Showdown, and Worsham came into Minnesota 55 points back, though he also had Jack Beckman ahead of him in 9th.
Here at the Lucas Oil Nationals, Worsham's No. 4 spot earned him 145 Showdown points, which allowed him to tie Beckman for the 9th spot and pick up 15 points on Toliver. Figuring he was still, therefore, 40 points out of the 8th spot, Worsham was stunned to realize that Gary Scelzi had come into this race only five points ahead of Toliver, and he had now slipped to the 8th position. Scelzi qualified 15th here, meaning Worsham is now only five scant points out of the U.S. Smokeless Showdown group, with only one race left before the eight-car field is set for the $100,000 special event at Indianapolis.
"I couldn't believe it when I heard that," Worsham said. "As a matter of fact, I thought the news was false, but that's what the numbers are and it's pretty amazing. Basically, if we go to Reading and out-qualify Scelzi and Beckman, we're in. That seems impossible, after all we've gone through, but we've qualified in the top half at five of the last six races, and we really made up a lot of distance in a hurry. I'll take it, because we need some good news around here."
Back to the proceedings at hand, Worsham went to the starting line on Sunday as part of the second pair of Funny Cars to take the track. He and Tasca watched Tony Pedregon defeat Jim Head in a tight side-by-side race as the first pair, and it's likely both teams knew they were in the right ballpark with their tune-ups by then.
After the burnouts, Worsham and Tasca staged their cars and both hit the throttle at the flash of amber. To be frank, neither driver exactly drilled the tree, but Tasca's .097 reaction time was 17-thousandths quicker than Worsham's uncharacteristic .114 light, giving him a slight edge off the starting line. The two cars paced each other in a stellar exhibition of nearly flawless racing, and at the stripe it was Worsham with a 4.252 to Tasca's slightly slower 4.257. Unfortunately, for those cheering for the Checker, Schuck's, Kragen driver, the difference at the starting line created the difference at the end, and Tasca took the win by 12-thousandths of a second.
"It's a crushing blow, because it's on me and we had it right there in our hands to make a strong move for the Countdown," Worsham said. "It's not over yet, and we still have two more races to go before the 10 Countdown spots are filled, but I'm the guy in the car and that was the best I had right then. I wasn't distracted, I did everything like I always do, and that was just the best I had. I'm a little frustrated at myself, but I'm just crushed for all these people in our pit who came to cheer us on.
"The way this all set up, with us having to race Tasca in the first round, made the drama just about as thick as it can get. It was so tense in the pit hardly anyone was talking, but we felt really good about the car and really good about the tune-up. It ran just about flawlessly, and our 4.25 was right there with just about all the best runs in the round. We just didn't get there first. Like I said, I don't have an easy answer because I did the best I could, and it wasn't enough. It hurts in a lot of ways, but we're not folding up and quitting. We're going straight to Reading to win that race."
For the record, Del Worsham has won far more races in this manner than he has lost. Over the years, he has drilled the very best on numerous occasions, leaving the likes of John Force, Gary Scelzi, and others to ponder just how they had been spanked at the tree and had their day ruined. For Worsham, on this day and at this race, it was just not meant to be.
<img src="http://www.nitromater.com/gallery/files/5/d_worsham.jpg" alt="d_worsham"align="left"borders="0" />
Del Worsham put the two words together immediately, calling his opening round loss to Bob Tasca, which came on a hole-shot, a "crushing blow." After qualifying 4th here in Brainerd, and running a beautifully stout lap in round one, Worsham still had to accept a defeat in a season full of difficult moments. This one simply stung a little bit more than the others.
Having come into this race only two points behind Tasca, who arrived in Brainerd in 11th place on the points sheet, Worsham took care of his first assignment before race day even dawned. His strong No. 4 qualifying spot, earned with a solid 4.152 late on Friday afternoon, earned him enough single-digit points to reverse the lead, leap-frogging Tasca to take an equal two-point lead the other way. Worsham, therefore, entered Sunday's eliminations in 11th place, and as if scripted by the producers of "Dramatic Drag Racing" he drew Tasca for his first-round opponent.
Qualifying in Brainerd was held under generally sunny skies, in beautiful conditions, but the same sun that gently baked the massive Minnesota crowd also heated up the racing surface, making top-end tire spin a common occurrence. Knowing full well that the second Friday session would be the critical one, Worsham went to the line unsure of his tune-up approach.
"It was still pretty easy to spin the tires out there, and we weren't really sure what the track would hold so we waited to watch a few pairs of Funny Cars run ahead of us," he said. "Just about everyone had spun during the opening session, but we were able to get down there far enough to be the fifth-quickest, and that was important for the later run because it put us further back in line. That gave us the chance to hold off on the final tuning call until we saw some other cars run.
"When Ashely Force ran 4.11 in the same lane we were going to be in, we went with the more aggressive option, and that turned out to be a really big call on the part of my dad and me. It got us solidly up in the top half, earned us some big qualifying points, and really ended up helping us out a ton in U.S. Smokeless Showdown points, which we haven't even been paying attention to that much. You get zero Showdown points when you DNQ, and we've done that four times this year, so we all just kind of put that whole deal out of our minds. Right now, we're right there in it."
Worsham is, indeed, somehow right back in the thick of the Showdown race. He has been as many as 200 points out of the top eight during the season, but has been whittling away at the deficit with his recent string of strong qualifying efforts (U.S. Smokeless points are earned strictly on qualifying positions). Jerry Toliver came into Brainerd holding down the 8th and final spot for the Showdown, and Worsham came into Minnesota 55 points back, though he also had Jack Beckman ahead of him in 9th.
Here at the Lucas Oil Nationals, Worsham's No. 4 spot earned him 145 Showdown points, which allowed him to tie Beckman for the 9th spot and pick up 15 points on Toliver. Figuring he was still, therefore, 40 points out of the 8th spot, Worsham was stunned to realize that Gary Scelzi had come into this race only five points ahead of Toliver, and he had now slipped to the 8th position. Scelzi qualified 15th here, meaning Worsham is now only five scant points out of the U.S. Smokeless Showdown group, with only one race left before the eight-car field is set for the $100,000 special event at Indianapolis.
"I couldn't believe it when I heard that," Worsham said. "As a matter of fact, I thought the news was false, but that's what the numbers are and it's pretty amazing. Basically, if we go to Reading and out-qualify Scelzi and Beckman, we're in. That seems impossible, after all we've gone through, but we've qualified in the top half at five of the last six races, and we really made up a lot of distance in a hurry. I'll take it, because we need some good news around here."
Back to the proceedings at hand, Worsham went to the starting line on Sunday as part of the second pair of Funny Cars to take the track. He and Tasca watched Tony Pedregon defeat Jim Head in a tight side-by-side race as the first pair, and it's likely both teams knew they were in the right ballpark with their tune-ups by then.
After the burnouts, Worsham and Tasca staged their cars and both hit the throttle at the flash of amber. To be frank, neither driver exactly drilled the tree, but Tasca's .097 reaction time was 17-thousandths quicker than Worsham's uncharacteristic .114 light, giving him a slight edge off the starting line. The two cars paced each other in a stellar exhibition of nearly flawless racing, and at the stripe it was Worsham with a 4.252 to Tasca's slightly slower 4.257. Unfortunately, for those cheering for the Checker, Schuck's, Kragen driver, the difference at the starting line created the difference at the end, and Tasca took the win by 12-thousandths of a second.
"It's a crushing blow, because it's on me and we had it right there in our hands to make a strong move for the Countdown," Worsham said. "It's not over yet, and we still have two more races to go before the 10 Countdown spots are filled, but I'm the guy in the car and that was the best I had right then. I wasn't distracted, I did everything like I always do, and that was just the best I had. I'm a little frustrated at myself, but I'm just crushed for all these people in our pit who came to cheer us on.
"The way this all set up, with us having to race Tasca in the first round, made the drama just about as thick as it can get. It was so tense in the pit hardly anyone was talking, but we felt really good about the car and really good about the tune-up. It ran just about flawlessly, and our 4.25 was right there with just about all the best runs in the round. We just didn't get there first. Like I said, I don't have an easy answer because I did the best I could, and it wasn't enough. It hurts in a lot of ways, but we're not folding up and quitting. We're going straight to Reading to win that race."
For the record, Del Worsham has won far more races in this manner than he has lost. Over the years, he has drilled the very best on numerous occasions, leaving the likes of John Force, Gary Scelzi, and others to ponder just how they had been spanked at the tree and had their day ruined. For Worsham, on this day and at this race, it was just not meant to be.
