<img src="http://www.nitromater.com/gallery/files/5/d_worsham.jpg" alt="d_worsham" align="left"borders="0"/>
ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. (June 17, 2008) -- For 18 years, the name Del Worsham has been inextricably connected to venerable Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, site of this weekend's Lucas Oil NHRA SuperNationals. Throughout that span of time, Worsham has been on top, been dejected, and been on fire at the historic New Jersey track, and the memories from all of those years, including both the good and the terrible, are etched deeply into his brain.
Back in 1991, Worsham earned the Wally trophy at Englishtown, capping off his "Rookie Of The Year" season with his second career win at the not-yet-ripe old age of 21. The next season, he came up just short, taking runner-up honors, but his personal highlight reel took a decidedly nasty turn for the worse in 1994, when a motor detonation created an inferno beneath the shell of the Worsham family Funny Car, and the young driver suffered serious burns on both hands. A lengthy hospital stay kept him in the Garden State for much of that summer, but Worsham eventually bounced back to resume what has become a stellar career.
The Englishtown hits kept on coming after the turn of the century, as Worsham became the then-quickest Funny Car driver on 90 percent nitro in 2001, running a 4.779 that also tied the all-time low E.T. for the class, no matter the fuel percentage. In 2005, it was another trip back to the Raceway Park Winner's Circle, when Worsham bested friend and fierce competitor Ron Capps in the money round. Then, in 2007, when Worsham arrived at the track on race day with utter confidence, knowing he had the car to beat, a sheared blower pulley ended his day in round one. The good, the bad, and the frustrating have all been part of the Checker, Schuck's, Kragen driver's Englishtown resume'.
"The wins were huge, both times, the fire was pretty huge too, and it just seems like big things happen to us when we're at Raceway Park," Worsham said. "Good or bad, it's always something big for us there. The '91 deal was part of a magical rookie year, and even though we'd won in Atlanta not too long before the Englishtown race, the whole thing was still pretty much of a blur for all of us. The fire was bad, really bad, and there were some times, when I was in the hospital, when I had to wonder why it happened and if I should be doing this. With the help of some great people, though, I got better and got back in the car and that's really what I needed to do.
"To be blunt, the 4.779, in 2001, was one of the better laps we've ever made, in all of my 18 years. The all-time low E.T. in the class was a 4.779 at the time, but it had been set before the 90 percent limit, so to come out there and tie it on 90 was pretty dramatic. And what a lot of people might not remember was that we did it in the first round on Sunday, not during an all-out qualifying session during the evening. We certainly weren't trying to be big heroes, but it all came together on that run and the time-slip pretty much stunned all of us."
One year ago, Worsham had come to Englishtown looking to steer his season back in a positive direction, entering the race in 8th place on the points sheet and with two DNQs on his record. As qualifying progressed, his red CSK Chevy was hooking up and "running on mean" heading into eliminations, giving Worsham the knowledge and the confidence he so badly needed.
"It had been a while since I came to the track with that feeling you get, the one where you just know this can be your day and the car has what it takes to beat everyone," Worsham said. "I was feeling really good, and the car had been pretty flawless, so the whole team was pretty psyched up about it all morning. Then, we went out there to race Jack Beckman in the first round, and the car was just flying. It was pulling hard and I had just pulled away from him when it went quiet. Things break, but why they break when they do is one of those mysteries I've never been able to figure out. It could have broken the day before, or at the finish line, but it broke before half-track and we were toast.
"This year, we really are in a spot where we just have to dig deep and come up with another big positive Englishtown result. We've struggled really badly lately, and I know it's time for this to turn around and head back in the right direction. We're too good to be running like this; not making the show at races where we should be capable of winning the whole thing, and we just have to get back to what we know we can do. We have to. And Englishtown is the perfect place to get a big winning streak started."
Worsham. Englishtown. The two are intertwined like strands of DNA, and the popular driver is ready to add another bit of heroic history to the career-long saga he has enjoyed at Raceway Park. And, if he has "the feeling" again on Sunday morning, you can be sure the blower pulleys will be checked and rechecked.
WORSHAM'S E-TOWN HISTORY COVERS THE SPECTRUM
ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. (June 17, 2008) -- For 18 years, the name Del Worsham has been inextricably connected to venerable Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, site of this weekend's Lucas Oil NHRA SuperNationals. Throughout that span of time, Worsham has been on top, been dejected, and been on fire at the historic New Jersey track, and the memories from all of those years, including both the good and the terrible, are etched deeply into his brain.
Back in 1991, Worsham earned the Wally trophy at Englishtown, capping off his "Rookie Of The Year" season with his second career win at the not-yet-ripe old age of 21. The next season, he came up just short, taking runner-up honors, but his personal highlight reel took a decidedly nasty turn for the worse in 1994, when a motor detonation created an inferno beneath the shell of the Worsham family Funny Car, and the young driver suffered serious burns on both hands. A lengthy hospital stay kept him in the Garden State for much of that summer, but Worsham eventually bounced back to resume what has become a stellar career.
The Englishtown hits kept on coming after the turn of the century, as Worsham became the then-quickest Funny Car driver on 90 percent nitro in 2001, running a 4.779 that also tied the all-time low E.T. for the class, no matter the fuel percentage. In 2005, it was another trip back to the Raceway Park Winner's Circle, when Worsham bested friend and fierce competitor Ron Capps in the money round. Then, in 2007, when Worsham arrived at the track on race day with utter confidence, knowing he had the car to beat, a sheared blower pulley ended his day in round one. The good, the bad, and the frustrating have all been part of the Checker, Schuck's, Kragen driver's Englishtown resume'.
"The wins were huge, both times, the fire was pretty huge too, and it just seems like big things happen to us when we're at Raceway Park," Worsham said. "Good or bad, it's always something big for us there. The '91 deal was part of a magical rookie year, and even though we'd won in Atlanta not too long before the Englishtown race, the whole thing was still pretty much of a blur for all of us. The fire was bad, really bad, and there were some times, when I was in the hospital, when I had to wonder why it happened and if I should be doing this. With the help of some great people, though, I got better and got back in the car and that's really what I needed to do.
"To be blunt, the 4.779, in 2001, was one of the better laps we've ever made, in all of my 18 years. The all-time low E.T. in the class was a 4.779 at the time, but it had been set before the 90 percent limit, so to come out there and tie it on 90 was pretty dramatic. And what a lot of people might not remember was that we did it in the first round on Sunday, not during an all-out qualifying session during the evening. We certainly weren't trying to be big heroes, but it all came together on that run and the time-slip pretty much stunned all of us."
One year ago, Worsham had come to Englishtown looking to steer his season back in a positive direction, entering the race in 8th place on the points sheet and with two DNQs on his record. As qualifying progressed, his red CSK Chevy was hooking up and "running on mean" heading into eliminations, giving Worsham the knowledge and the confidence he so badly needed.
"It had been a while since I came to the track with that feeling you get, the one where you just know this can be your day and the car has what it takes to beat everyone," Worsham said. "I was feeling really good, and the car had been pretty flawless, so the whole team was pretty psyched up about it all morning. Then, we went out there to race Jack Beckman in the first round, and the car was just flying. It was pulling hard and I had just pulled away from him when it went quiet. Things break, but why they break when they do is one of those mysteries I've never been able to figure out. It could have broken the day before, or at the finish line, but it broke before half-track and we were toast.
"This year, we really are in a spot where we just have to dig deep and come up with another big positive Englishtown result. We've struggled really badly lately, and I know it's time for this to turn around and head back in the right direction. We're too good to be running like this; not making the show at races where we should be capable of winning the whole thing, and we just have to get back to what we know we can do. We have to. And Englishtown is the perfect place to get a big winning streak started."
Worsham. Englishtown. The two are intertwined like strands of DNA, and the popular driver is ready to add another bit of heroic history to the career-long saga he has enjoyed at Raceway Park. And, if he has "the feeling" again on Sunday morning, you can be sure the blower pulleys will be checked and rechecked.
