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BRAINERD, Minn. -- After going "0-for-Western Swing" throughout a hot and tiring July, Del Worsham and his Checker, Schuck's, Kragen Funny Car team really could have used a week off. Being chronic workaholics, however, Worsham and his hard working group instead took their cars to Salt Lake City this past weekend, for an exhibition match race at Rocky Mountain Raceways. Then, once the long smoky burnouts were done, the autographs signed, and the Utah fans sent home happy, the popular driver found himself stepping back in time in a most unexpected way, though he will admit to having enjoyed it.
Worsham's original plan called for a Sunday morning departure from Salt Lake City, driving his motorhome with father Chuck along for the ride. A 1,400 mile trip lay ahead of them, but by sharing the driving they figured they'd have plenty of time to make a leisurely side trip to the Twin Cities for a day, before heading up to Brainerd International Raceway for this weekend's Lucas Oil Nationals. Just as he was preparing to leave, however, the whole "trip back in time" thing sent Worsham back to school, as in "old school."
"When the match race was over, one of our crew guys, Warren Bryning, got a call from home and he really needed to drop out and get back there," Worsham said. "Believe me, family comes first and I understood what he was up against. I had planned on leaving in the motorhome on Sunday morning, while the guys serviced the cars at the track that day, but all of a sudden we were without a clutch guy. No problem. I've done more clutch work than a lot of guys, dating back to my early teenage years working on my dad's various cars, so I just got up in the morning and got to work.
"I have enough responsibility on my shoulders to keep me from really working on the car full-time anymore, but it was good to get back to the old days again, getting covered in clutch dust and sweat, busting my knuckles on the race car, even if it was only for a day. Once we got everything serviced and ready to go, a whole new issue came up, though, and it was another thing that took me back to the 'old school' days. We have three big rigs, two SUVs, and a motorhome to get down the road, and now we were short of drivers. So, I jumped in the red transporter with Steve 'Fuel Boy' Brown on Sunday night, and we took off."
It's unknown how many race fans on Interstate 80 approached the CSK/Del Worsham big rig on its journey across mid-America, and then did double or triple-takes as they passed the cab and saw the man himself behind the wheel, but this situation was only new or noteworthy in relation to recent history. Back in the day, Worsham was his team's lead driver, and he has logged hundreds of thousands of miles driving the family transporter.
"Talk about old times, this was really a step back," Worsham said. "To be driving the rig, across the country, with Fuel Boy in the cab with me, that's about as historic as it gets on this team. Fuel Boy has been with us since before I started driving the Funny Car, so to be putting the pedal down for 1,400 miles was pretty cool, and just like old times. I still drive a lot on the tour, but only in the motorhome, so it was great to get back in there and run the rig up through the gears again.
"When Fuel Boy and I drive, the last thing we ever want to do is stop. I enjoy driving, but I don't like it to last any longer than it has to, so we just put the hammer down and kept going. We were the first ones to Brainerd, on Monday night. My dad, on the other hand, is in the motorhome by himself, and he's still back in Nebraska somewhere."
Now that Worsham has gotten his transporter to Brainerd, it's time to shift gears again, though this time the shifting will be mental. With former crew member Jason Bybee answering the call for fill-in clutch help, Worsham will be able to focus on tuning and driving the red CSK Monte Carlo, and he's looking forward to doing just that with a fresh "old school" outlook.
"I'm a racer, pure and simple," he said. "Doing the clutch work, and driving the rig, just got me back in a great frame of mind. It's about the racing, and we need to get back to the old days in some other ways, too. We're tired, we're a little short on crew power, but we're all excited and the guys are picking up the slack. In the old days, this would be the moment where it would all pay off and we'd get to celebrate on Sunday. It feels good, like a 'good tired' instead of just being drained. There's some excitement on the team right now, and we're all geared up to get on the track.
"In addition to all of that, I think we're getting some things sorted out that have been tripping us up all year. We're so close, and we've been so close all year that it's driven us about half nuts. We're not in a spot where we have to throw everything out and start over. We just need to massage this thing a little more, just to get on the good side of it. Brainerd is a fun place no matter what, so winning some rounds there would be just what we need right now. I can't wait to get going, but I'm going to let Jason handle the clutch."
Even on Friday, when qualifying begins at Brainerd International, a little of that tell-tale clutch dust may still be hiding under Worsham's fingernails. That's "old school" racing, pure and simple, and nothing suits Del Worsham better than getting his hands dirty.
Worsham Goes "Old School" On His Way to Brainerd
BRAINERD, Minn. -- After going "0-for-Western Swing" throughout a hot and tiring July, Del Worsham and his Checker, Schuck's, Kragen Funny Car team really could have used a week off. Being chronic workaholics, however, Worsham and his hard working group instead took their cars to Salt Lake City this past weekend, for an exhibition match race at Rocky Mountain Raceways. Then, once the long smoky burnouts were done, the autographs signed, and the Utah fans sent home happy, the popular driver found himself stepping back in time in a most unexpected way, though he will admit to having enjoyed it.
Worsham's original plan called for a Sunday morning departure from Salt Lake City, driving his motorhome with father Chuck along for the ride. A 1,400 mile trip lay ahead of them, but by sharing the driving they figured they'd have plenty of time to make a leisurely side trip to the Twin Cities for a day, before heading up to Brainerd International Raceway for this weekend's Lucas Oil Nationals. Just as he was preparing to leave, however, the whole "trip back in time" thing sent Worsham back to school, as in "old school."
"When the match race was over, one of our crew guys, Warren Bryning, got a call from home and he really needed to drop out and get back there," Worsham said. "Believe me, family comes first and I understood what he was up against. I had planned on leaving in the motorhome on Sunday morning, while the guys serviced the cars at the track that day, but all of a sudden we were without a clutch guy. No problem. I've done more clutch work than a lot of guys, dating back to my early teenage years working on my dad's various cars, so I just got up in the morning and got to work.
"I have enough responsibility on my shoulders to keep me from really working on the car full-time anymore, but it was good to get back to the old days again, getting covered in clutch dust and sweat, busting my knuckles on the race car, even if it was only for a day. Once we got everything serviced and ready to go, a whole new issue came up, though, and it was another thing that took me back to the 'old school' days. We have three big rigs, two SUVs, and a motorhome to get down the road, and now we were short of drivers. So, I jumped in the red transporter with Steve 'Fuel Boy' Brown on Sunday night, and we took off."
It's unknown how many race fans on Interstate 80 approached the CSK/Del Worsham big rig on its journey across mid-America, and then did double or triple-takes as they passed the cab and saw the man himself behind the wheel, but this situation was only new or noteworthy in relation to recent history. Back in the day, Worsham was his team's lead driver, and he has logged hundreds of thousands of miles driving the family transporter.
"Talk about old times, this was really a step back," Worsham said. "To be driving the rig, across the country, with Fuel Boy in the cab with me, that's about as historic as it gets on this team. Fuel Boy has been with us since before I started driving the Funny Car, so to be putting the pedal down for 1,400 miles was pretty cool, and just like old times. I still drive a lot on the tour, but only in the motorhome, so it was great to get back in there and run the rig up through the gears again.
"When Fuel Boy and I drive, the last thing we ever want to do is stop. I enjoy driving, but I don't like it to last any longer than it has to, so we just put the hammer down and kept going. We were the first ones to Brainerd, on Monday night. My dad, on the other hand, is in the motorhome by himself, and he's still back in Nebraska somewhere."
Now that Worsham has gotten his transporter to Brainerd, it's time to shift gears again, though this time the shifting will be mental. With former crew member Jason Bybee answering the call for fill-in clutch help, Worsham will be able to focus on tuning and driving the red CSK Monte Carlo, and he's looking forward to doing just that with a fresh "old school" outlook.
"I'm a racer, pure and simple," he said. "Doing the clutch work, and driving the rig, just got me back in a great frame of mind. It's about the racing, and we need to get back to the old days in some other ways, too. We're tired, we're a little short on crew power, but we're all excited and the guys are picking up the slack. In the old days, this would be the moment where it would all pay off and we'd get to celebrate on Sunday. It feels good, like a 'good tired' instead of just being drained. There's some excitement on the team right now, and we're all geared up to get on the track.
"In addition to all of that, I think we're getting some things sorted out that have been tripping us up all year. We're so close, and we've been so close all year that it's driven us about half nuts. We're not in a spot where we have to throw everything out and start over. We just need to massage this thing a little more, just to get on the good side of it. Brainerd is a fun place no matter what, so winning some rounds there would be just what we need right now. I can't wait to get going, but I'm going to let Jason handle the clutch."
Even on Friday, when qualifying begins at Brainerd International, a little of that tell-tale clutch dust may still be hiding under Worsham's fingernails. That's "old school" racing, pure and simple, and nothing suits Del Worsham better than getting his hands dirty.
