WORSHAM HEADS TO INDY WITH '05 REPLAY IN MIND
<img src="http://www.nitromater.com/gallery/files/5/d_worsham.jpg" alt="d_worsham" align="left"borders="0"/>
INDIANAPOLIS (August 25, 2008) -- It was three years ago, but to any member of the Checker, Schuck's, Kragen Funny Car team who was present, it seems more like yesterday. Back in 2005, Del Worsham entered the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals frustrated by what he and his teammates considered a disappointing season. He had only one race victory to his credit, and was hovering around near the bottom of the Top 10 on the points sheet, but he came to Indy hoping to inject new energy into his program by doing well at both the "The Big Go" as well the U.S. Smokeless Showdown (then known as the Skoal Showdown). After four days of racing, five qualifying sessions, three trips down the track in the Showdown, and four runs on Monday, Worsham had done more than inject newfound energy; he had etched his name permanently in the record books by sweeping the weekend.
A repeat in 2006 or 2007 would have been impossible, as Worsham missed the ultra-competitive field for the Showdown by not finishing in one of the eight slots needed for inclusion, but this year he arrives in Indy fresh off a motivating rally in Reading, where he leapfrogged from outside the Showdown field (where he has been all year) all the way up to the 7th spot, at the last possible race. This weekend, therefore, will mark Worsham's 11th appearance in the prestigious "race within a race" while it's also his first chance to repeat his remarkable 2005 accomplishment. As in '05, he enters Indy with one race win to his credit, and is looking for a jolt of adrenalin.
"Because we'd been struggling for a good bit of this year, we put the Showdown completely out of mind, and didn't even think of it when we started ripping off some really good qualifying efforts throughout the summer," Worsham said. "It's a great event, and it adds a whole extra day's worth of drama to the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, but not having been in it for two years I kind of just put it out of my head. It wasn't until Brainerd, just a couple of weeks ago, that it became pretty clear we had a chance to pull this deal off, but we still needed just about everything to go right in Reading."
It certainly did "go right" for Worsham, as he not only found his way into the Showdown field, but surprised even himself by jumping all the way into the 7th spot, while John Force joined him by coming from nowhere to grab the final position. To boil it down, Worsham and Force entered Reading as the long shots, with Jack Beckman tied with Worsham for 9th, while Gary Scelzi sat 8th and Jerry Toliver 7th. When both Scelzi and Toliver missed the cut in Reading, and Worsham out-qualified Beckman, the leap was made. Now, it's all about performance.
"We somehow did it, so I'm pretty pumped about that, but now it comes down to putting good laps on the board and not worrying about the math," Worsham said. "We know two things right now. We know we need to qualify for the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, and the best thing for us would be to do that on Friday or Saturday, so that we can concentrate on the Showdown on Sunday. We also know we'll face Robert Hight in the first round of the Showdown, so we're going to have to be about perfect.
"What can really shape the Showdown is the weather, since it's run during the day on Sunday. As a race team, we've actually won it twice, with Frankie Pedregon winning for us in 2001, and both times we've won the big money it came on a hot and sunny day. A tricky track is the big equalizer, and when you get out there on a hot day with a scalding track, it doesn't really matter how much horsepower you can generate. You need to find a way to get from A to B."
On top of his Showdown drama, Worsham is also keenly focused on the main task at hand, the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, which will be contested on the Labor Day holiday. His win in 2005 triggered a massive payday, totally nearly a quarter-million dollars in total payouts between the Showdown, the race, the NHRA "Double-Up" bonus, and contingencies. It was a pile of money not lost on the frugal driver.
"I know there are some teams out here who would like that kind of money, but don't really need it," he said. "We are definitely not one of those teams. It meant a lot to us, from my dad and me right down to the youngest crew guy. The team benefitted a great deal by the money, and all of our guys got a piece of it too.
"That Monday, having to win four rounds to make it all pay off, was probably the single-most stressful day of racing I've ever experienced. It was suffocating at times, and the racing was pretty fierce, but we managed to pull it off and, to this day, it's kind of hard to believe. I promise you, in some ways it feels like a long time ago, because we've been through so much since that day, but in more ways it feels like yesterday. I think all of the guys who were there can remember that last lap in tiny detail, including the celebration after it. It was a huge day for Worsham Racing, CSK Auto, and especially our friends at Mac Tools. They've been with us for 11 years, and they loved that day as much as we did."
When asked if it's possible for him to repeat the "Double-Up" in '08, Worsham was direct and to-the-point.
"Of course we can do it. I know we're capable of it. The car is running well and we've raced well at Indy for a lot of years. That being said, winning either of the two big events is just enormous, and really harder than you can imagine, so it's a really tough thing to do. If we follow the plan, if we tune the car and bolt it together right, and if the driver does his job, we can win it all, but you won't win it all by looking too far ahead. It's one step at a time. That's how we did it in '05, focusing on each individual lap and not thinking about the whole big thing until we had no choice, on the very last lap. So we'll just take it one step at a time."
Just as in 2005, taking all of those steps would instantly make 2008 a season Worsham will never forget.
<img src="http://www.nitromater.com/gallery/files/5/d_worsham.jpg" alt="d_worsham" align="left"borders="0"/>
INDIANAPOLIS (August 25, 2008) -- It was three years ago, but to any member of the Checker, Schuck's, Kragen Funny Car team who was present, it seems more like yesterday. Back in 2005, Del Worsham entered the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals frustrated by what he and his teammates considered a disappointing season. He had only one race victory to his credit, and was hovering around near the bottom of the Top 10 on the points sheet, but he came to Indy hoping to inject new energy into his program by doing well at both the "The Big Go" as well the U.S. Smokeless Showdown (then known as the Skoal Showdown). After four days of racing, five qualifying sessions, three trips down the track in the Showdown, and four runs on Monday, Worsham had done more than inject newfound energy; he had etched his name permanently in the record books by sweeping the weekend.
A repeat in 2006 or 2007 would have been impossible, as Worsham missed the ultra-competitive field for the Showdown by not finishing in one of the eight slots needed for inclusion, but this year he arrives in Indy fresh off a motivating rally in Reading, where he leapfrogged from outside the Showdown field (where he has been all year) all the way up to the 7th spot, at the last possible race. This weekend, therefore, will mark Worsham's 11th appearance in the prestigious "race within a race" while it's also his first chance to repeat his remarkable 2005 accomplishment. As in '05, he enters Indy with one race win to his credit, and is looking for a jolt of adrenalin.
"Because we'd been struggling for a good bit of this year, we put the Showdown completely out of mind, and didn't even think of it when we started ripping off some really good qualifying efforts throughout the summer," Worsham said. "It's a great event, and it adds a whole extra day's worth of drama to the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, but not having been in it for two years I kind of just put it out of my head. It wasn't until Brainerd, just a couple of weeks ago, that it became pretty clear we had a chance to pull this deal off, but we still needed just about everything to go right in Reading."
It certainly did "go right" for Worsham, as he not only found his way into the Showdown field, but surprised even himself by jumping all the way into the 7th spot, while John Force joined him by coming from nowhere to grab the final position. To boil it down, Worsham and Force entered Reading as the long shots, with Jack Beckman tied with Worsham for 9th, while Gary Scelzi sat 8th and Jerry Toliver 7th. When both Scelzi and Toliver missed the cut in Reading, and Worsham out-qualified Beckman, the leap was made. Now, it's all about performance.
"We somehow did it, so I'm pretty pumped about that, but now it comes down to putting good laps on the board and not worrying about the math," Worsham said. "We know two things right now. We know we need to qualify for the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, and the best thing for us would be to do that on Friday or Saturday, so that we can concentrate on the Showdown on Sunday. We also know we'll face Robert Hight in the first round of the Showdown, so we're going to have to be about perfect.
"What can really shape the Showdown is the weather, since it's run during the day on Sunday. As a race team, we've actually won it twice, with Frankie Pedregon winning for us in 2001, and both times we've won the big money it came on a hot and sunny day. A tricky track is the big equalizer, and when you get out there on a hot day with a scalding track, it doesn't really matter how much horsepower you can generate. You need to find a way to get from A to B."
On top of his Showdown drama, Worsham is also keenly focused on the main task at hand, the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, which will be contested on the Labor Day holiday. His win in 2005 triggered a massive payday, totally nearly a quarter-million dollars in total payouts between the Showdown, the race, the NHRA "Double-Up" bonus, and contingencies. It was a pile of money not lost on the frugal driver.
"I know there are some teams out here who would like that kind of money, but don't really need it," he said. "We are definitely not one of those teams. It meant a lot to us, from my dad and me right down to the youngest crew guy. The team benefitted a great deal by the money, and all of our guys got a piece of it too.
"That Monday, having to win four rounds to make it all pay off, was probably the single-most stressful day of racing I've ever experienced. It was suffocating at times, and the racing was pretty fierce, but we managed to pull it off and, to this day, it's kind of hard to believe. I promise you, in some ways it feels like a long time ago, because we've been through so much since that day, but in more ways it feels like yesterday. I think all of the guys who were there can remember that last lap in tiny detail, including the celebration after it. It was a huge day for Worsham Racing, CSK Auto, and especially our friends at Mac Tools. They've been with us for 11 years, and they loved that day as much as we did."
When asked if it's possible for him to repeat the "Double-Up" in '08, Worsham was direct and to-the-point.
"Of course we can do it. I know we're capable of it. The car is running well and we've raced well at Indy for a lot of years. That being said, winning either of the two big events is just enormous, and really harder than you can imagine, so it's a really tough thing to do. If we follow the plan, if we tune the car and bolt it together right, and if the driver does his job, we can win it all, but you won't win it all by looking too far ahead. It's one step at a time. That's how we did it in '05, focusing on each individual lap and not thinking about the whole big thing until we had no choice, on the very last lap. So we'll just take it one step at a time."
Just as in 2005, taking all of those steps would instantly make 2008 a season Worsham will never forget.
