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One of the cruelest facts about drag racing is that half of the competitors are completely eliminated with every round of racing. And in 2007, with the competition level at an all-time high and with one or more of the biggest hitters in the sport joining the DNQ list every week, that means eight very good race teams are done, out of it, gone, and sent packing after the first round. On this day, Del Worsham and his Checker, Schuck's, Kragen squad were part of that group.
As mentioned, simply getting in the race field these days is Herculean work. This weekend, on a track known to be kind to the super-power teams, Robert Hight suffered his first career DNQ, while last week's winner Mike Ashley also failed to make the show. Worsham earned his way into the field the same way almost everyone else did, on Friday night. With three daylight sessions and one night run, this event became the classic "one shot deal" and Worsham was up to the task.
"We've messed up in these deals before, when it all comes down to Friday night, and it's really frustrating when you do that," Worsham said. "If anything goes wrong on that Friday night run, if a two dollar part fails, you can be completely out of luck for making the race, and that's really not a very good way to set a field. We've gone through it, where something weird happened on Friday night, and then we came out and led the pack for both runs on Saturday but we still missed the show, because the best you can do in the daylight isn't good enough. This time, we put a solid lap on the board and pretty much assured ourselves of a spot."
Worsham posted a 4.795 under the lights on Friday, and at the time of his run it was good enough for the No. 4 spot on the sheet, but a whole gaggle of big-time teams were still in line. By the time the session ended, and everyone had taken their whacks, Worsham was 13th, but in little danger of being bumped.
"We were pretty sure that number was okay, only because the sun was supposed to be out on Saturday," Worsham said. "The only possible hitch was the fact Robert Hight and Mike Ashley were down there at the bottom. If anyone can outrun the sun and beat a sketchy track, it's those guys. As it turned out, the track won and we made the show in the same spot. I was happy for us, but I felt bad for the fans who came out here and saw a lot of tire smoke."
That 13th position created a match-up with Jim Head on Sunday morning, and Worsham knew that was a tough assignment.
"All things equal, if the lanes were the same and the weather was what you need to run fast, we were in a tough spot because he's been outrunning a lot of people, pretty much all year," Worsham said. "It wouldn't have hurt my feelings if the sun was broiling the track, to make it a toss-up in either lane, but the morning air was pretty good and the track ended up being pretty solid too. Knowing it probably wasn't going to be pedaling deal, we just overstepped it a little, I guess. We sure weren't trying to mess up, but we had a little too much in it."
Worsham left the starting line first, grabbing 15-thousandths at the tree, but his CSK Chevy spun the tires near the 330-foot mark, while Head tore cleanly down the favored left lane, and just like that, Worsham's day and weekend were summarily over. 23 Funny Car teams entered this race, and 16 made the field. In round one, all 16 pulled up to the starting line with a chance at glory, but half had to walk away.
"It's tough man, first round is tough," Worsham said. "You'd like to think you can go up there and win every one of them, but you're always racing a great car in the other lane, and today we came up short. We'll stick around here tomorrow to make some test laps, just to see what we can uncover, and then we'll get ready for a summer full of racing."
There is a hole in the NHRA schedule next weekend, but after that Worsham's "summer full of racing" will commence, as the tour will hit Englishtown, Norwalk, Bristol, Denver, Seattle, and Sonoma on consecutive weekends.
At each one of those stops, the same scenario will play out. Del Worsham just wants to be one of the 16 who make the field, and one of the eight who survive that first round drama. After that, anything is possible.
WORSHAM OUSTED IN ROUND ONE
One of the cruelest facts about drag racing is that half of the competitors are completely eliminated with every round of racing. And in 2007, with the competition level at an all-time high and with one or more of the biggest hitters in the sport joining the DNQ list every week, that means eight very good race teams are done, out of it, gone, and sent packing after the first round. On this day, Del Worsham and his Checker, Schuck's, Kragen squad were part of that group.
As mentioned, simply getting in the race field these days is Herculean work. This weekend, on a track known to be kind to the super-power teams, Robert Hight suffered his first career DNQ, while last week's winner Mike Ashley also failed to make the show. Worsham earned his way into the field the same way almost everyone else did, on Friday night. With three daylight sessions and one night run, this event became the classic "one shot deal" and Worsham was up to the task.
"We've messed up in these deals before, when it all comes down to Friday night, and it's really frustrating when you do that," Worsham said. "If anything goes wrong on that Friday night run, if a two dollar part fails, you can be completely out of luck for making the race, and that's really not a very good way to set a field. We've gone through it, where something weird happened on Friday night, and then we came out and led the pack for both runs on Saturday but we still missed the show, because the best you can do in the daylight isn't good enough. This time, we put a solid lap on the board and pretty much assured ourselves of a spot."
Worsham posted a 4.795 under the lights on Friday, and at the time of his run it was good enough for the No. 4 spot on the sheet, but a whole gaggle of big-time teams were still in line. By the time the session ended, and everyone had taken their whacks, Worsham was 13th, but in little danger of being bumped.
"We were pretty sure that number was okay, only because the sun was supposed to be out on Saturday," Worsham said. "The only possible hitch was the fact Robert Hight and Mike Ashley were down there at the bottom. If anyone can outrun the sun and beat a sketchy track, it's those guys. As it turned out, the track won and we made the show in the same spot. I was happy for us, but I felt bad for the fans who came out here and saw a lot of tire smoke."
That 13th position created a match-up with Jim Head on Sunday morning, and Worsham knew that was a tough assignment.
"All things equal, if the lanes were the same and the weather was what you need to run fast, we were in a tough spot because he's been outrunning a lot of people, pretty much all year," Worsham said. "It wouldn't have hurt my feelings if the sun was broiling the track, to make it a toss-up in either lane, but the morning air was pretty good and the track ended up being pretty solid too. Knowing it probably wasn't going to be pedaling deal, we just overstepped it a little, I guess. We sure weren't trying to mess up, but we had a little too much in it."
Worsham left the starting line first, grabbing 15-thousandths at the tree, but his CSK Chevy spun the tires near the 330-foot mark, while Head tore cleanly down the favored left lane, and just like that, Worsham's day and weekend were summarily over. 23 Funny Car teams entered this race, and 16 made the field. In round one, all 16 pulled up to the starting line with a chance at glory, but half had to walk away.
"It's tough man, first round is tough," Worsham said. "You'd like to think you can go up there and win every one of them, but you're always racing a great car in the other lane, and today we came up short. We'll stick around here tomorrow to make some test laps, just to see what we can uncover, and then we'll get ready for a summer full of racing."
There is a hole in the NHRA schedule next weekend, but after that Worsham's "summer full of racing" will commence, as the tour will hit Englishtown, Norwalk, Bristol, Denver, Seattle, and Sonoma on consecutive weekends.
At each one of those stops, the same scenario will play out. Del Worsham just wants to be one of the 16 who make the field, and one of the eight who survive that first round drama. After that, anything is possible.
