Worsham Heads To The Mountains For A Fresh, Clean, Start (1 Viewer)

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WORSHAM HEADS TO THE MOUNTAINS FOR A FRESH, CLEAN, START

DENVER (June 10, 2006) -- The first half of the 2006 NHRA POWERade season is over, and Del Worsham won't even pretend to be sad to see it go. Having battled through one of the most frustrating 12-race runs of his illustrious career, Worsham can only hope that continued perseverance, as well as the confidence built by 21 lifetime race victories, will finally put his Checker, Schuck's, Kragen team over the top and back into the lofty reaches of the sport's elite.

His first half was full of incomprehensibly close losses, most of which came against a short list of drivers who are currently battling for the top spot in the Funny Car class, followed by a disheartening loss in St. Louis, where tire smoke surprised the team in the first round of competition after not having been much of a factor all weekend (or, for that matter, all year.) It was enough to give the still-young driver a few gray hairs, and more than a few sleepless nights.

"We spent the first half losing races the hard way," Worsham said. "It's been getting so old, I don't even like talking about it anymore. I was trying to think of an analogy to other sports, but it's hard to compare. I mean, in football, if you run the ball well, you'll gain yards. In basketball, if you shoot well, you will score points. I always say this is more like golf, where all you can do is shoot your best score, and if someone beats you by a stroke, there's nothing you can do about it.

"For us, we had a few races where we were shooting our best rounds ever, making every shot, and we'd still get beat by a stroke. It was kind of like making an unbelievable eagle on a hole, and then seeing the other guy make a hole-in-one. Maybe it's also a little like baseball, where you can hit line drives but the other guys catch them all. We've been hitting line drives, but we haven't had any of those broken-bat bloop hits fall in for us at all. We know we just have to keep swinging, and the good results will come."

Heading into this weekend's Mopar Mile-High Nationals at scenic Bandimere Speedway on the outskirts of Denver, Worsham looks forward to the mountain air, the challenges of tuning at altitude, and a fresh start for the second half. Getting back on the NHRA tour also allows Team CSK to continue its development on a number of fronts.

"We're not just sitting around doing nothing here, hoping it will all come together, so we're all excited to get to Denver and get going again on all the things we're working on," he said. "We've been phasing in some new stuff that will help us now, and help us down the road, but doing that's never an instant fix. It takes time to change the way you run the car, but we know we're headed in the right direction.

"Starting the 'Western Swing' is exciting, because it's a very historic and interesting part of the schedule. We've won all three legs over the years, though all in different years, and both of the CSK cars have won in Denver (Phil Burkart took the trophy home in 2004.) Honestly, though, right now I'm only focusing on the next lap, and this upcoming race. It's a real challenge up on the mountain, but we've done well there in recently. We just want to keep making progress, and keep our confidence up. We know we can win."

For Worsham, the "Western Swing" is more than just a marathon of racing and traveling all around the left side of America. It's also a high dive right back into the deep end of CSK territory, with each race representing a major regional marketing event for the Checker, Schuck's, and Kragen brands.

"It's going to be nice to have the full set-up again, and to have the hospitality area full of CSK people and their guests," Worsham said. "This is the one part of the season where we get to promote each of the three brand names in consecutive races. There are Checker stores in Colorado, it's Schuck's up in the Great Northwest and this year the Seattle race even becomes the Schuck's Nationals, and then it's back to Kragen country in Sonoma.

"Everybody always asks me to say 'Checker, Schuck's, Kragen' three times fast, but all I really want to do is say 'thank you' to all 12,000 people at CSK Auto. We know those guys love to win just as much as we do, and there's nothing better than celebrating a great day when they're at the track with us. Let's see if we can start it off the right way, with all the Checker people at the Mile-High Nationals."

There might be no better way to enjoy the beauty of the Rockies.
 
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