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LAS VEGAS (October 23, 2006) -- The pair of Las Vegas stops on the NHRA POWERade tour are unique in many ways, most of which can be attributed to the glitz and glamour of America's flashiest city. World famous casinos, fine dining, and big-name stage acts are all part of the Las Vegas allure, but one aspect of racing at "The Strip" is never duplicated in any other locale on the tour. Media critics and racing experts may follow the entire POWERade schedule, commenting on the results throughout the year, but only in Las Vegas do drivers have to deal with the publication of "odds" based on a bookmaker's opinion.
As is usually the case, The Station Casinos have just released their first stab at setting the line for this weekend's AC Delco Las Vegas Nationals, and Checker, Schuck's, Kragen driver Del Worsham was quick to spot his name near the bottom of the list in the Funny Car class. His 18-1 odds against winning the race this Sunday are among the worst such numbers ever listed next to his name, but Worsham isn't squawking about it. As far as he is concerned, his 2006 record doesn't call for better odds, and if he can right the ship and get back to the Winner's Circle, he might help make some friends and family members rich.
"18-1 is pretty bad, but if I was the oddsmaker I'd have a hard time coming up with anything else, I guess," Worsham said. "The two things that jumped right out at me were the fact a bet on 'The Field' is a 15-1 wager, so apparently I'm a bigger long shot than my own chassis builder, Grant Downing, who races once or twice a year, and I also saw that Whit Bazemore is listed at 18-1. As far as I know, Whit isn't driving in Las Vegas, so I hope nobody rushes out there to put 20 dollars on him.
"I, personally, have never bet on the races, but I know some of our friends and family members like to go put a small wager down on our cars, as kind of a way to support us. I've never won a race in Las Vegas, so I know I've never been able to pay off for any of those people, but my teammate Phil Burkart won here in 2004 and I knew a couple of people who took a chance and put some money down on him. Maybe it's my turn this time around. If so, whoever wins on their bets shouldn't be afraid to buy me dinner."
If the 18-1 odds aren't enough to make a Worsham fan cringe, the results that built that betting line certainly are. Entering Las Vegas, the 22nd race on the 23-race schedule, Worsham sits 11th in points on the strength of 11 round wins. In many recent seasons, Worsham was able to top the 11 mark by the quarter pole, on his way to 41 round wins in 2004 and 35 wins in both 2003 and 2002. Getting at least three more round wins in the bank in the next two races is Worsham's first goal.
"Winning Las Vegas or Pomona is the overall goal, of course, but winning a couple of rounds at each race would really be what we need to go into the off-season on a little bit of a positive roll," he said. "We're outside the top ten in points, this late in the season, for the first time since 1997 and that's very disheartening. To get to the stage at the awards ceremony, we're going to have to win some rounds, and we only have two races left.
"Our teammates on the blue side have done their work and they have Phil in 10th right now. It doesn't look like I have to bump Phil out to get in the top ten, because he's going to pass Whit before we're done, which will slide Whit down into 10th, so my goal is to earn the 114 points I need to get that spot. It's disappointing that we're talking about getting into 10th place by passing a guy who isn't racing right now, but it's the position we've put ourselves in and it's what we have in front of us."
Worsham and his crew followed up a disappointing first-round loss in Richmond with a full testing day on the Monday following that race, and the results were good enough to give Worsham a slightly better outlook as he comes west.
"We made some subtle changes, kind of balancing how we throw a little more power at it versus how we calm it down in certain spots, and it went about as well as it could go," Worsham said. "Testing is testing, and lots of guys have won the 'Monday Nationals' without it meaning anything, but we've just been missing by a hair all year and the Richmond test session addressed some of those issues. We were running better anyway, but just messed up in round one there and pretty much handed a round away, so these little changes could be what we're looking for.
"What I'm looking for, in the short term, is a good qualifying effort on Friday, to get that drama behind us, and then a top-half spot for the race. Once we do that, we'll focus on Sunday and we'll remember how we messed up in Richmond. If we want to win more rounds before the season is over, and certainly if we want to win this race, we have to win round one, no matter who is in the other lane. We just have to, that's all there is to it. If we do that, the 18-1 odds will begin to look better and better."
And should a friend or family member cash in a big ticket after a stirring Worsham victory, they just might find the Team CSK group in a fine Las Vegas restaurant, somewhere on The Strip. The odds of Del Worsham allowing that person to pick up the check, however, are quite a bit higher than 18-1.
WORSHAM FOCUSED ON VEGAS RESULTS, NOT THE ODDS
LAS VEGAS (October 23, 2006) -- The pair of Las Vegas stops on the NHRA POWERade tour are unique in many ways, most of which can be attributed to the glitz and glamour of America's flashiest city. World famous casinos, fine dining, and big-name stage acts are all part of the Las Vegas allure, but one aspect of racing at "The Strip" is never duplicated in any other locale on the tour. Media critics and racing experts may follow the entire POWERade schedule, commenting on the results throughout the year, but only in Las Vegas do drivers have to deal with the publication of "odds" based on a bookmaker's opinion.
As is usually the case, The Station Casinos have just released their first stab at setting the line for this weekend's AC Delco Las Vegas Nationals, and Checker, Schuck's, Kragen driver Del Worsham was quick to spot his name near the bottom of the list in the Funny Car class. His 18-1 odds against winning the race this Sunday are among the worst such numbers ever listed next to his name, but Worsham isn't squawking about it. As far as he is concerned, his 2006 record doesn't call for better odds, and if he can right the ship and get back to the Winner's Circle, he might help make some friends and family members rich.
"18-1 is pretty bad, but if I was the oddsmaker I'd have a hard time coming up with anything else, I guess," Worsham said. "The two things that jumped right out at me were the fact a bet on 'The Field' is a 15-1 wager, so apparently I'm a bigger long shot than my own chassis builder, Grant Downing, who races once or twice a year, and I also saw that Whit Bazemore is listed at 18-1. As far as I know, Whit isn't driving in Las Vegas, so I hope nobody rushes out there to put 20 dollars on him.
"I, personally, have never bet on the races, but I know some of our friends and family members like to go put a small wager down on our cars, as kind of a way to support us. I've never won a race in Las Vegas, so I know I've never been able to pay off for any of those people, but my teammate Phil Burkart won here in 2004 and I knew a couple of people who took a chance and put some money down on him. Maybe it's my turn this time around. If so, whoever wins on their bets shouldn't be afraid to buy me dinner."
If the 18-1 odds aren't enough to make a Worsham fan cringe, the results that built that betting line certainly are. Entering Las Vegas, the 22nd race on the 23-race schedule, Worsham sits 11th in points on the strength of 11 round wins. In many recent seasons, Worsham was able to top the 11 mark by the quarter pole, on his way to 41 round wins in 2004 and 35 wins in both 2003 and 2002. Getting at least three more round wins in the bank in the next two races is Worsham's first goal.
"Winning Las Vegas or Pomona is the overall goal, of course, but winning a couple of rounds at each race would really be what we need to go into the off-season on a little bit of a positive roll," he said. "We're outside the top ten in points, this late in the season, for the first time since 1997 and that's very disheartening. To get to the stage at the awards ceremony, we're going to have to win some rounds, and we only have two races left.
"Our teammates on the blue side have done their work and they have Phil in 10th right now. It doesn't look like I have to bump Phil out to get in the top ten, because he's going to pass Whit before we're done, which will slide Whit down into 10th, so my goal is to earn the 114 points I need to get that spot. It's disappointing that we're talking about getting into 10th place by passing a guy who isn't racing right now, but it's the position we've put ourselves in and it's what we have in front of us."
Worsham and his crew followed up a disappointing first-round loss in Richmond with a full testing day on the Monday following that race, and the results were good enough to give Worsham a slightly better outlook as he comes west.
"We made some subtle changes, kind of balancing how we throw a little more power at it versus how we calm it down in certain spots, and it went about as well as it could go," Worsham said. "Testing is testing, and lots of guys have won the 'Monday Nationals' without it meaning anything, but we've just been missing by a hair all year and the Richmond test session addressed some of those issues. We were running better anyway, but just messed up in round one there and pretty much handed a round away, so these little changes could be what we're looking for.
"What I'm looking for, in the short term, is a good qualifying effort on Friday, to get that drama behind us, and then a top-half spot for the race. Once we do that, we'll focus on Sunday and we'll remember how we messed up in Richmond. If we want to win more rounds before the season is over, and certainly if we want to win this race, we have to win round one, no matter who is in the other lane. We just have to, that's all there is to it. If we do that, the 18-1 odds will begin to look better and better."
And should a friend or family member cash in a big ticket after a stirring Worsham victory, they just might find the Team CSK group in a fine Las Vegas restaurant, somewhere on The Strip. The odds of Del Worsham allowing that person to pick up the check, however, are quite a bit higher than 18-1.
