<img src="http://gallery.nitromater.com/files/6/5/d_worsham06.jpg" alt="d_worsham06" align="right"borders="0"/>
For Del Worsham and his Checker, Schuck's, Kragen team, it was a huge relief to "come from behind" and land a spot in the Dallas race field after a pair of stunning and frustrating DNQs at Memphis and Indy. It was also terrific to know his first round lap would have beaten the likes of Gary Scelzi, Tony Pedregon, Cruz Pedregon, and Tony Bartone, all of whom advanced to the second round with slower times than Worsham's. It felt good to put his quickest lap of the weekend on the board in that first-round match-up, running 2-hundredths better than his last-ditch 4.93 on Saturday. On top of all that, there was some moral victory inherent in knowing he was the only first-round loser to make a full lap without smoking the tires. But, all that said and all considered, Worsham's day still ended in that opening stanza, against No. 1 qualifier Robert Hight.
"In one sense, you can say that 'you can't pick your opponent,' and that's absolutely true," Worsham said. "But, to be honest, when you enter the race from the 16th spot, you know you've got the biggest of the big dogs in round one, and there's nothing you can do about that. When you qualify 5th and still get John Force or Ron Capps, you can consider that bad luck. When you're 16th, and you get Robert Hight, you're getting what you're supposed to get.
"Now, having said all that, I feel better right now than I have in a long time. We were so frustrated 24 hours ago, I was ready to pull my hair out. Then, we got this car to run a clean lap and we managed to get in the show on that last run. I didn't come out here this morning all delusional, thinking we were going to jump up from a 4.93 to a 4.78 or something, because when you try to do that, make that big of a step, you're almost always going to make a mistake. I came out here this morning wanting to get better, get quicker, and make a full lap. We did all that, but we got beaten by a very fast car."
The set-up for this result came in the form of three mind-bending runs on Friday and Saturday, all of which included tire smoke and poor elapsed times. Though he spent some time in the top 16 prior to the last run, Worsham entered that final session as the 18th car on the sheet, with his teammate Phil Burkart holding down the bump spot in 16th. To add more drama, and perhaps some insult to the injury, Worsham was faced with having to bump his own teammate out of the field in order to land himself a position.
He did just that, making his first full lap of the event with his 4.934, which put him in the No. 12 spot at the time. Burkart was next up, and he streaked to an even better 4.891, starting a series of laps which each knocked Worsham back a spot. After two pairs, Worsham was down in the 16th position, with Gary Densham at the line. Densham was the last possible racer who could knock Worsham from the field, but he smoked the tires and the red CSK Monte Carlo was safely in the show, albeit in the 16th and final spot.
"I said it last night, that 16th is a tough spot to be in, but it's a lot better than 17th," Worsham said. "You're going to have your hands full running the No. 1 guy, but you have no way of beating anybody if you're not in the field. It was all a step in the right direction, and we wanted the first round today to be another step, or two, back in that direction.
"You know, I look at the data from the run and it's all pretty good. The car did what we wanted it to do, we went from A to B without any tire smoke or problems, which is actually something that none of the other guys who lost in the round were able to do, and that includes guys like Eric Medlen and John Force. That was my number one goal, because to get into the show after what we've been going through, and then blow the tires off in round one, trying to hit a 600-foot home run, would have been useless, not to mention demoralizing, embarrassing, and stupid. I'm not happy that we lost, but I'm actually feeling pretty good about how we did. We're not lost in the woods anymore. We can get a lot better from here, and I'm looking forward to doing that."
Weather permitting, the tour will now head back to soggy Reading to make up the Toyo Tires Nationals, which were postponed last week. When that event takes place, Worsham will be looking to replicate many of his feats from this weekend. He'll be looking for a place in the field, will be aiming to outrun many of the best in round one, and will focus on getting better while he puts the best possible numbers on the board. Perhaps, if things work out in his favor, he'll even manage to run better than the guys in the other lane, and the victories will be of the real variety, rather than of the moral sort.
WORSHAM'S GAME EFFORT IS GOOD, BUT NOT QUITE ENOUGH
For Del Worsham and his Checker, Schuck's, Kragen team, it was a huge relief to "come from behind" and land a spot in the Dallas race field after a pair of stunning and frustrating DNQs at Memphis and Indy. It was also terrific to know his first round lap would have beaten the likes of Gary Scelzi, Tony Pedregon, Cruz Pedregon, and Tony Bartone, all of whom advanced to the second round with slower times than Worsham's. It felt good to put his quickest lap of the weekend on the board in that first-round match-up, running 2-hundredths better than his last-ditch 4.93 on Saturday. On top of all that, there was some moral victory inherent in knowing he was the only first-round loser to make a full lap without smoking the tires. But, all that said and all considered, Worsham's day still ended in that opening stanza, against No. 1 qualifier Robert Hight.
"In one sense, you can say that 'you can't pick your opponent,' and that's absolutely true," Worsham said. "But, to be honest, when you enter the race from the 16th spot, you know you've got the biggest of the big dogs in round one, and there's nothing you can do about that. When you qualify 5th and still get John Force or Ron Capps, you can consider that bad luck. When you're 16th, and you get Robert Hight, you're getting what you're supposed to get.
"Now, having said all that, I feel better right now than I have in a long time. We were so frustrated 24 hours ago, I was ready to pull my hair out. Then, we got this car to run a clean lap and we managed to get in the show on that last run. I didn't come out here this morning all delusional, thinking we were going to jump up from a 4.93 to a 4.78 or something, because when you try to do that, make that big of a step, you're almost always going to make a mistake. I came out here this morning wanting to get better, get quicker, and make a full lap. We did all that, but we got beaten by a very fast car."
The set-up for this result came in the form of three mind-bending runs on Friday and Saturday, all of which included tire smoke and poor elapsed times. Though he spent some time in the top 16 prior to the last run, Worsham entered that final session as the 18th car on the sheet, with his teammate Phil Burkart holding down the bump spot in 16th. To add more drama, and perhaps some insult to the injury, Worsham was faced with having to bump his own teammate out of the field in order to land himself a position.
He did just that, making his first full lap of the event with his 4.934, which put him in the No. 12 spot at the time. Burkart was next up, and he streaked to an even better 4.891, starting a series of laps which each knocked Worsham back a spot. After two pairs, Worsham was down in the 16th position, with Gary Densham at the line. Densham was the last possible racer who could knock Worsham from the field, but he smoked the tires and the red CSK Monte Carlo was safely in the show, albeit in the 16th and final spot.
"I said it last night, that 16th is a tough spot to be in, but it's a lot better than 17th," Worsham said. "You're going to have your hands full running the No. 1 guy, but you have no way of beating anybody if you're not in the field. It was all a step in the right direction, and we wanted the first round today to be another step, or two, back in that direction.
"You know, I look at the data from the run and it's all pretty good. The car did what we wanted it to do, we went from A to B without any tire smoke or problems, which is actually something that none of the other guys who lost in the round were able to do, and that includes guys like Eric Medlen and John Force. That was my number one goal, because to get into the show after what we've been going through, and then blow the tires off in round one, trying to hit a 600-foot home run, would have been useless, not to mention demoralizing, embarrassing, and stupid. I'm not happy that we lost, but I'm actually feeling pretty good about how we did. We're not lost in the woods anymore. We can get a lot better from here, and I'm looking forward to doing that."
Weather permitting, the tour will now head back to soggy Reading to make up the Toyo Tires Nationals, which were postponed last week. When that event takes place, Worsham will be looking to replicate many of his feats from this weekend. He'll be looking for a place in the field, will be aiming to outrun many of the best in round one, and will focus on getting better while he puts the best possible numbers on the board. Perhaps, if things work out in his favor, he'll even manage to run better than the guys in the other lane, and the victories will be of the real variety, rather than of the moral sort.
