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RICHMOND, Va. (October 2, 2007) -- Del Worsham's struggles throughout the early part of the 2007 NHRA POWERade campaign are well documented and clear to see on any stat sheet. He opened the season with an unthinkable pair of DNQs, he continued to trash motors and Funny Car bodies at an alarming rate, and at one point he was 20th on the points list. After a solid string of good racing and good fortune in April and May, where he won seven rounds in four races and earned his way back into 8th place, Worsham then managed to go without a round win for most of June and July, sliding back as far as 13th in the points. As roller coasters go, this was not a fun ride to be on.
Entering the Seattle race in 13th place, Worsham could barely remember the last round he had won (for the sake of historic reference, it was a semi-final win over Mike Ashley, in St. Louis, on May 6th) but he also knew time was running out on his 2007 season, and although his car had been showing signs of life, it was basically "now or never". Since that Sunday in Seattle, Worsham has been all about the "now," posting a 10-7 record while advancing to another final round (Sonoma). He also earned his fourth career No. 1 qualifying spot, in Reading, and ended up missing the Countdown playoff field by just two rounds, when only months before he seemed destined to finish the season well over the horizon.
"The car showed some signs of life early in the year, but we were still hurting way too many parts and it wasn't a lot of fun," Worsham said. "It all kind of came to a head in Norwalk, where we blew it up so big we got on CNN Headline News. That deal was so bad it forced us to fix these problems once and for all, because we weren't going to keep racing if we knew the car was likely to blow up every round. We couldn't just hope it would be okay, or hope the latest remedy had fixed it, because the ramifications were getting too serious.
"We put all of our effort into solving the problem right then, and we fixed it, although it took a few races for the results to show that and for us to be totally, completely, sure we had it right. We won a round in Seattle, and all of a sudden it just felt like we were back again. Once we got the motor problems fixed, it was time to just be aggressive and go racing again, and we finally got the chance to get back to tuning and driving. For about a year, we were stuck in a defensive mode where we were mostly trying to get to the finish line without blowing the body off the car, so it really changed things to be able to put that out of our minds and just race. The results show the difference."
Though he is not a part of the Countdown field, having missed passing Jim Head for the final spot by the aforementioned two rounds, Worsham has focused on his overall performance, preferring not to get caught up in "what if" scenarios. Basically, he is simply measuring himself against the rest of the elite teams in the class, and for the past couple of months, he's been an exemplary competitor. With round wins over the likes of Ron Capps, Robert Hight, Gary Scelzi, Ashley Force, Tommy Johnson, and his own teammate, Jeff Arend, Worsham has been handing it to some of the best in the sport, and that gives him great confidence as he wraps up the '07 season.
"Yes, we're already looking ahead to 2008, so no one needs to ask that question," Worsham said. "I would've probably also said that if we had continued to struggle, because we might have just wanted it to be over if that was the case, but I'm saying it now because we're running so well I can't wait for the board to be erased. Right now, I don't think anyone is too happy to race us, and I want to carry that over to the '08 season. We're back to being racers now, instead of being defensive, and that's how it's always been when we're winning.
"Our sole goal, right now, is to keep running like this at the last three races, and if we do we might just put four good rounds together on a Sunday and take the trophy. Once Pomona is over, we'll all be tied again for '08, and we are totally focused on staying strong and getting out of the gate well. In the meantime, let's just go win Richmond. That would be a great way to continue making this statement."
The statement is short and to the point: Del Worsham is back.
WORSHAM AIMS TO CONTINUE THE STATEMENT
RICHMOND, Va. (October 2, 2007) -- Del Worsham's struggles throughout the early part of the 2007 NHRA POWERade campaign are well documented and clear to see on any stat sheet. He opened the season with an unthinkable pair of DNQs, he continued to trash motors and Funny Car bodies at an alarming rate, and at one point he was 20th on the points list. After a solid string of good racing and good fortune in April and May, where he won seven rounds in four races and earned his way back into 8th place, Worsham then managed to go without a round win for most of June and July, sliding back as far as 13th in the points. As roller coasters go, this was not a fun ride to be on.
Entering the Seattle race in 13th place, Worsham could barely remember the last round he had won (for the sake of historic reference, it was a semi-final win over Mike Ashley, in St. Louis, on May 6th) but he also knew time was running out on his 2007 season, and although his car had been showing signs of life, it was basically "now or never". Since that Sunday in Seattle, Worsham has been all about the "now," posting a 10-7 record while advancing to another final round (Sonoma). He also earned his fourth career No. 1 qualifying spot, in Reading, and ended up missing the Countdown playoff field by just two rounds, when only months before he seemed destined to finish the season well over the horizon.
"The car showed some signs of life early in the year, but we were still hurting way too many parts and it wasn't a lot of fun," Worsham said. "It all kind of came to a head in Norwalk, where we blew it up so big we got on CNN Headline News. That deal was so bad it forced us to fix these problems once and for all, because we weren't going to keep racing if we knew the car was likely to blow up every round. We couldn't just hope it would be okay, or hope the latest remedy had fixed it, because the ramifications were getting too serious.
"We put all of our effort into solving the problem right then, and we fixed it, although it took a few races for the results to show that and for us to be totally, completely, sure we had it right. We won a round in Seattle, and all of a sudden it just felt like we were back again. Once we got the motor problems fixed, it was time to just be aggressive and go racing again, and we finally got the chance to get back to tuning and driving. For about a year, we were stuck in a defensive mode where we were mostly trying to get to the finish line without blowing the body off the car, so it really changed things to be able to put that out of our minds and just race. The results show the difference."
Though he is not a part of the Countdown field, having missed passing Jim Head for the final spot by the aforementioned two rounds, Worsham has focused on his overall performance, preferring not to get caught up in "what if" scenarios. Basically, he is simply measuring himself against the rest of the elite teams in the class, and for the past couple of months, he's been an exemplary competitor. With round wins over the likes of Ron Capps, Robert Hight, Gary Scelzi, Ashley Force, Tommy Johnson, and his own teammate, Jeff Arend, Worsham has been handing it to some of the best in the sport, and that gives him great confidence as he wraps up the '07 season.
"Yes, we're already looking ahead to 2008, so no one needs to ask that question," Worsham said. "I would've probably also said that if we had continued to struggle, because we might have just wanted it to be over if that was the case, but I'm saying it now because we're running so well I can't wait for the board to be erased. Right now, I don't think anyone is too happy to race us, and I want to carry that over to the '08 season. We're back to being racers now, instead of being defensive, and that's how it's always been when we're winning.
"Our sole goal, right now, is to keep running like this at the last three races, and if we do we might just put four good rounds together on a Sunday and take the trophy. Once Pomona is over, we'll all be tied again for '08, and we are totally focused on staying strong and getting out of the gate well. In the meantime, let's just go win Richmond. That would be a great way to continue making this statement."
The statement is short and to the point: Del Worsham is back.
