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ST. LOUIS (April 29, 2008) -- It sits at the foot of the Mississippi River, a mammoth 630-foot inverted catenary curve made of stainless steel, and has become one of the most iconic National Monuments in the United States. It is, of course, the Gateway Arch in downtown St. Louis, and it can be easily seen from the staging lanes at Gateway International Raceway, in nearby Madison, Ill., where the NHRA tour heads this weekend for the O'Reilly Midwest Nationals. Though most simply call it "the Arch" it is more officially part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, which commemorates rapid westward expansion during the early history of the United States. With most pioneers setting off from St. Louis, the last great western outpost, the city became known as the "Gateway To The West" and the Gateway Arch symbolizes that history to this day.
Del Worsham's Checker, Schuck's, Kragen Funny Car is but 125 inches in chassis length, and weighs but 2,500 lbs, but its massive horsepower and acceleration make it something of a landmark as well, and when Worsham takes to the Gateway International track this weekend, he'll be looking to earn yet another shiny 17-inch Wally, which would expand his trophy case even further while it memorializes another successful weekend for the popular CSK driver. With 22 such trophies to his credit, Worsham is always eager to find the "gateway" to another Winner's Circle.
"The St. Louis race is one you look forward to, for a lot of reasons," Worsham said. "It's really the only track we go to where the facility itself is actually part of the city, and it's cool to look to the west and see the Arch, and the downtown St. Louis skyline, just a couple of miles away. On top of that, St. Louis is one of the great sports towns in the country, and the fans who come out to our race have a bit of a different vibe to them. There are plenty of die-hard drag racing fans, of course, with t-shirts on from years gone by, but there are also just a lot of sports fans, who come over to check us out because we're town. We get to meet a large number of first-timers, or people who haven't been to a lot of races, and that's always fun.
"It's also been a good track for us, so I'm excited to get back to racing at Gateway. We made it to the final round here, just last year, finishing as runner-up to Ron Capps, and we won this race back in 2003, so between the great food in south St. Louis, Cardinals games at Busch Stadium, the great fans, and the racing, I have a lot of fond memories of this place. Of course, the conditions were quite a bit different back in 2003, so I'm glad we don't have to deal with that anymore."
Worsham's mention of the conditions in 2003 refer to a recent scheduling change that clearly made the St. Louis event a more pleasant experience. After joining the NHRA tour in 1997, the St. Louis race was traditionally held on the last weekend in June, just when the midwestern weather was approaching "fry an egg on the sidewalk" territory. Many of the hottest days in NHRA history were spent at Gateway International, and the race was even shifted to an all-nighttime schedule for a few years, in a fruitless effort to beat the heat. Worsham's 2003 victory was completed late at night, after an early-evening kickoff, and the driver recalls the surreal atmosphere that accompanied that win.
"It was so strange, from start to finish," he said. "First of all, none of us can stand to sit inside our air-conditioned hotel rooms all day, so we would still end up being at the track before noon each day, just absolutely broiling in the heat. We've had some days in Memphis that were pretty unbearable, but most of those early years in St. Louis were just like a blast furnace. We started the race, that year, before sunset, and as the race went on you just forgot about the time. We ended up winning the race, doing all the celebrating, going to get our pictures taken, and all of that, and when we finally got back to the pit it was way after midnight. There wasn't even anywhere to go for a team dinner. We just toasted each other in the pit, with a few of those beverages St. Louis is known for, and went to bed.
"They finally wised up enough to move this race to the beginning of May, and last year was our first experience with that. We did get rained on, and I suppose rain is something you'd have to worry about in St. Louis anywhere from April to November, but the difference in temperature was like a gift. It was so much better to be racing here without feeling like you were either going to pass-out or catch on fire at any moment. Hopefully, we'll have some great weather this weekend, and the whole thing will be a lot of fun."
In the present tense, Worsham is also eager to race this weekend just to erase a bad memory from Atlanta, where the tour competed just days ago. Facing eventual-winner Ashley Force in round one, Worsham had to shut-off before the run, with an oil leak. He currently sits 10th on the POWERade points list, thanks in great part to his big win at the O'Reilly Spring Nationals in Houston, and wants nothing more than to put Atlanta in the review mirror while he focuses on St. Louis.
"It's over and done with, but until we get back out there we're all feeling out of sorts," Worsham said. "We just want to make a good lap during the first qualifying session, and get back into the swing of things without thinking about Atlanta. Once we do that, it's ancient history, and we won't be thinking about it anymore.
"And, we're also aware of one other big thing: This is the first O'Reilly-sponsored race since Houston, where we just won. We've had a great history of doing well at the events they sponsor, I think we've won four O'Reilly races over the last few years, and this would be as good a time as any to win another one. If we could pull it off this year, we'd even have time to go out to dinner after the race!"
Whether westward expansion or trophy-case expansion, a large memorial Arch or a smallish gold statue, the monumental connections of the St. Louis race are clear for Del Worsham to see, right from the staging lanes at Gateway International Raceway.
WORSHAM SEEKS A MONUMENT TO TROPHY-CASE EXPANSION
ST. LOUIS (April 29, 2008) -- It sits at the foot of the Mississippi River, a mammoth 630-foot inverted catenary curve made of stainless steel, and has become one of the most iconic National Monuments in the United States. It is, of course, the Gateway Arch in downtown St. Louis, and it can be easily seen from the staging lanes at Gateway International Raceway, in nearby Madison, Ill., where the NHRA tour heads this weekend for the O'Reilly Midwest Nationals. Though most simply call it "the Arch" it is more officially part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, which commemorates rapid westward expansion during the early history of the United States. With most pioneers setting off from St. Louis, the last great western outpost, the city became known as the "Gateway To The West" and the Gateway Arch symbolizes that history to this day.
Del Worsham's Checker, Schuck's, Kragen Funny Car is but 125 inches in chassis length, and weighs but 2,500 lbs, but its massive horsepower and acceleration make it something of a landmark as well, and when Worsham takes to the Gateway International track this weekend, he'll be looking to earn yet another shiny 17-inch Wally, which would expand his trophy case even further while it memorializes another successful weekend for the popular CSK driver. With 22 such trophies to his credit, Worsham is always eager to find the "gateway" to another Winner's Circle.
"The St. Louis race is one you look forward to, for a lot of reasons," Worsham said. "It's really the only track we go to where the facility itself is actually part of the city, and it's cool to look to the west and see the Arch, and the downtown St. Louis skyline, just a couple of miles away. On top of that, St. Louis is one of the great sports towns in the country, and the fans who come out to our race have a bit of a different vibe to them. There are plenty of die-hard drag racing fans, of course, with t-shirts on from years gone by, but there are also just a lot of sports fans, who come over to check us out because we're town. We get to meet a large number of first-timers, or people who haven't been to a lot of races, and that's always fun.
"It's also been a good track for us, so I'm excited to get back to racing at Gateway. We made it to the final round here, just last year, finishing as runner-up to Ron Capps, and we won this race back in 2003, so between the great food in south St. Louis, Cardinals games at Busch Stadium, the great fans, and the racing, I have a lot of fond memories of this place. Of course, the conditions were quite a bit different back in 2003, so I'm glad we don't have to deal with that anymore."
Worsham's mention of the conditions in 2003 refer to a recent scheduling change that clearly made the St. Louis event a more pleasant experience. After joining the NHRA tour in 1997, the St. Louis race was traditionally held on the last weekend in June, just when the midwestern weather was approaching "fry an egg on the sidewalk" territory. Many of the hottest days in NHRA history were spent at Gateway International, and the race was even shifted to an all-nighttime schedule for a few years, in a fruitless effort to beat the heat. Worsham's 2003 victory was completed late at night, after an early-evening kickoff, and the driver recalls the surreal atmosphere that accompanied that win.
"It was so strange, from start to finish," he said. "First of all, none of us can stand to sit inside our air-conditioned hotel rooms all day, so we would still end up being at the track before noon each day, just absolutely broiling in the heat. We've had some days in Memphis that were pretty unbearable, but most of those early years in St. Louis were just like a blast furnace. We started the race, that year, before sunset, and as the race went on you just forgot about the time. We ended up winning the race, doing all the celebrating, going to get our pictures taken, and all of that, and when we finally got back to the pit it was way after midnight. There wasn't even anywhere to go for a team dinner. We just toasted each other in the pit, with a few of those beverages St. Louis is known for, and went to bed.
"They finally wised up enough to move this race to the beginning of May, and last year was our first experience with that. We did get rained on, and I suppose rain is something you'd have to worry about in St. Louis anywhere from April to November, but the difference in temperature was like a gift. It was so much better to be racing here without feeling like you were either going to pass-out or catch on fire at any moment. Hopefully, we'll have some great weather this weekend, and the whole thing will be a lot of fun."
In the present tense, Worsham is also eager to race this weekend just to erase a bad memory from Atlanta, where the tour competed just days ago. Facing eventual-winner Ashley Force in round one, Worsham had to shut-off before the run, with an oil leak. He currently sits 10th on the POWERade points list, thanks in great part to his big win at the O'Reilly Spring Nationals in Houston, and wants nothing more than to put Atlanta in the review mirror while he focuses on St. Louis.
"It's over and done with, but until we get back out there we're all feeling out of sorts," Worsham said. "We just want to make a good lap during the first qualifying session, and get back into the swing of things without thinking about Atlanta. Once we do that, it's ancient history, and we won't be thinking about it anymore.
"And, we're also aware of one other big thing: This is the first O'Reilly-sponsored race since Houston, where we just won. We've had a great history of doing well at the events they sponsor, I think we've won four O'Reilly races over the last few years, and this would be as good a time as any to win another one. If we could pull it off this year, we'd even have time to go out to dinner after the race!"
Whether westward expansion or trophy-case expansion, a large memorial Arch or a smallish gold statue, the monumental connections of the St. Louis race are clear for Del Worsham to see, right from the staging lanes at Gateway International Raceway.
