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Between Del Worsham's performance and that of his teammate Jeff Arend, the two CSK drivers lost a pair of round one races by approximately almost nothing. During one of the more frustrating days in Team CSK history, both drivers ran side-by-side with their competition, both were in face-offs against Countdown contenders, both made great laps, and both lost by inches. For Worsham, it was Gary Scelzi who took the win light, with a 4.944 to Worsham's 4.949.
In what turned out to be a three-session event, in terms of qualifying, Worsham blasted to a solid 4.858 on a green race track, Friday night. Basically, only four cars made what could be considered representative passes under the lights on Friday, so Worsham's fine lap was a strong indication of just how good of a race car he has been driving since mid-summer. At the time, the run left him in the No. 3 qualifying position.
"That was big, to come out and make such a good lap on that particular un, because the track was a total mystery to all of us," Worsham said.
"When the rains came, on Friday afternoon, it wasn't that big of a downpour but for some reason when they went to dry the track, the rubber starting coming up. They pretty much had to totally re-prep the
track as the sun went down and the humidity came up, and I wasn't real sure they'd be able to do it. What they managed to pull off there was a huge accomplishment, and I thought our run was a pretty big accomplishment too."
On Saturday, the day dawned with more cloudy skies and rain did not appear to be out of the question. During the first session, contested under cloud cover, Worsham showed more consistency by powering to a solid 4.878, but a few other laps made by other drivers conspired to knock him down a few runs on the eliminations' ladder, leaving Worsham 6th going into the final lap.
By the time the CSK red team pulled to the line for that last lap, the clouds had vaporized and bright sunshine was blanketing Virginia Motorsports Park. Worsham appeared, though, to have saved his best for last, streaking down track to his best incremental times by a long way.
Just past half-track, however, the car went silent, the victim of sheared blower studs. The final results showed Worsham qualified in the No. 9 position.
"As far as I'm concerned, we went three-for-three with all good laps in qualifying, because that last one was just a fluke," Worsham said. "We had made two good laps, and were up there on the last one to jump right back up to near the top of the field, but the studs let go and that was that. Getting knocked out of the top half wasn't a big deal, in terms of lane choice, because the track looked pretty even, but it set up that race against Scelzi. I don't know who we would've raced if we had made it on that last lap, heck we might have gotten Capps because he was lurking down there near the bottom of the field, but we ended up with Gary and you just know that's going to be very tough.
"Those guys were right in the middle of a three-way fight for the last spot in the Countdown, so that first round against us was maybe their season, all in one lap. We weren't short of motivation either, though.
We wanted to win it just as bad."
In the race, the difference was made at the tree, as Worsham uncharacteristically left last. The two cars ran side-by-side the entire length of the track, and Worsham never saw Scelzi until past the finish line.
"I was just late, there's no getting around that," he said. "But, I never saw him at all and didn't hear him until the finish line, when he stayed on the throttle just a split second longer than I did. Put those two things together, not seeing him and hearing him run it a little longer, and you think you won. The only problem was we didn't."
Worsham and his teammates now get a well-earned break, with two off-weekends on the schedule before the tour reconvenes in Las Vegas in late October.
WORSHAM NARROWLY EDGED IN ROUND ONE
Between Del Worsham's performance and that of his teammate Jeff Arend, the two CSK drivers lost a pair of round one races by approximately almost nothing. During one of the more frustrating days in Team CSK history, both drivers ran side-by-side with their competition, both were in face-offs against Countdown contenders, both made great laps, and both lost by inches. For Worsham, it was Gary Scelzi who took the win light, with a 4.944 to Worsham's 4.949.
In what turned out to be a three-session event, in terms of qualifying, Worsham blasted to a solid 4.858 on a green race track, Friday night. Basically, only four cars made what could be considered representative passes under the lights on Friday, so Worsham's fine lap was a strong indication of just how good of a race car he has been driving since mid-summer. At the time, the run left him in the No. 3 qualifying position.
"That was big, to come out and make such a good lap on that particular un, because the track was a total mystery to all of us," Worsham said.
"When the rains came, on Friday afternoon, it wasn't that big of a downpour but for some reason when they went to dry the track, the rubber starting coming up. They pretty much had to totally re-prep the
track as the sun went down and the humidity came up, and I wasn't real sure they'd be able to do it. What they managed to pull off there was a huge accomplishment, and I thought our run was a pretty big accomplishment too."
On Saturday, the day dawned with more cloudy skies and rain did not appear to be out of the question. During the first session, contested under cloud cover, Worsham showed more consistency by powering to a solid 4.878, but a few other laps made by other drivers conspired to knock him down a few runs on the eliminations' ladder, leaving Worsham 6th going into the final lap.
By the time the CSK red team pulled to the line for that last lap, the clouds had vaporized and bright sunshine was blanketing Virginia Motorsports Park. Worsham appeared, though, to have saved his best for last, streaking down track to his best incremental times by a long way.
Just past half-track, however, the car went silent, the victim of sheared blower studs. The final results showed Worsham qualified in the No. 9 position.
"As far as I'm concerned, we went three-for-three with all good laps in qualifying, because that last one was just a fluke," Worsham said. "We had made two good laps, and were up there on the last one to jump right back up to near the top of the field, but the studs let go and that was that. Getting knocked out of the top half wasn't a big deal, in terms of lane choice, because the track looked pretty even, but it set up that race against Scelzi. I don't know who we would've raced if we had made it on that last lap, heck we might have gotten Capps because he was lurking down there near the bottom of the field, but we ended up with Gary and you just know that's going to be very tough.
"Those guys were right in the middle of a three-way fight for the last spot in the Countdown, so that first round against us was maybe their season, all in one lap. We weren't short of motivation either, though.
We wanted to win it just as bad."
In the race, the difference was made at the tree, as Worsham uncharacteristically left last. The two cars ran side-by-side the entire length of the track, and Worsham never saw Scelzi until past the finish line.
"I was just late, there's no getting around that," he said. "But, I never saw him at all and didn't hear him until the finish line, when he stayed on the throttle just a split second longer than I did. Put those two things together, not seeing him and hearing him run it a little longer, and you think you won. The only problem was we didn't."
Worsham and his teammates now get a well-earned break, with two off-weekends on the schedule before the tour reconvenes in Las Vegas in late October.
