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READING, Pa. (August 14, 2007) -- Del Worsham heard all the "what if's" and formulations prior to Brainerd. He knew, by heart, all of the scenarios through which he could make a serious charge at Jim Head for the 8th and final spot in the NHRA Countdown To The Championship.
He did all he could in Minnesota, qualifying in front of Head and running a fine lap in round one. When Tim Wilkerson, however, outran him in that opening stanza, Worsham crossed a theoretical threshold, and he put the Countdown out of his mind.
The popular Checker, Schuck's, Kragen driver can still, mathematically, pull off the miracle, but what had looked like a tall mountain to climb when in Brainerd, now looks like Everest on a bad day. The plot boils down to the fact Worsham would not only have to win this weekend's Toyo Tires Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway, he would also need Head to cooperate by losing in round one, and even that wouldn't do it if Worsham couldn't find a way to pick up at least four additional points via qualifying. With all that in mind, the owner/tuner/driver of the red CSK Impala has shifted his mental gears to focus on much smaller pictures.
"It's too big of a combination of difficult things to even think about," he said. "We could do everything right, and totally dominate the race, and Jim could even go out in the first round, but if we didn't manage to qualify near the top while he's near the bottom, we'd still finish behind him. You can't go into any race with visions like that, so we're just focusing on representing Checker, Schuck's, Kragen, and Murray's as well as we can, on every lap we run. It will work out however it works out.
"And, if we do leave Reading outside the playoffs, we're still going to head to Indy with the intention of winning there. We'll head to every race planning to qualify high and win every round, because that's all we really care about. And you know, as much as we all want to be a part of the Countdown, it's not the end of the world if we're not. If we pull off a miracle, that would be awesome, but if we don't, we'll move on and try to win every round we can. We can still finish with what I'd consider 'a good season' if we just keep running well, and we'll actually be earning points for the 2008 Skoal Showdown when we qualify at Indy, so there's one slate that will be washed clean within a few weeks. "
With the "smaller picture" goal in mind, Worsham has chosen not to look any farther ahead than the first qualifying day in Reading. Friday's schedule calls for one late afternoon run, and one pass under the lights, and every Funny Car driver knows those two laps will be key.
"Maybe not as critical as at some other races, because it's not supposed to be scalding hot, it's actually supposed to be really nice,"
Worsham said. "But, the two Friday runs will still be the key passes we'll make, so we're going there with the intention of making the most out of those two runs, starting with a good lap on Friday afternoon. I'm not going to even think about the Countdown at all. I'm going to think about winning this race for our great sponsors, including the ones that support CSK and our program so well, like Mac Tools, Chevron, Pepsi, K&N Filters, Goodyear, Autolite, and so many others. It takes an army of great sponsors to be competitive out here, and we have some of the best in the business.
"On top of all that, our blue team won this race last year but I've never been able to win at Maple Grove, so it's an important thing for me, my year, and my career. It's one of the classic facilities on the tour, one of the long-time venues with a lot of history and great fans.
I want to win at Maple Grove, and this would be a great weekend to do that, no matter how the Countdown thing works out. Give me a win, and I'll be happy."
And no matter how such a win might affect his points standings, Worsham will still remain focused on the smaller picture. Each lap, each day.
WORSHAM'S ONLY GOAL IS SUCCESS AT READING
READING, Pa. (August 14, 2007) -- Del Worsham heard all the "what if's" and formulations prior to Brainerd. He knew, by heart, all of the scenarios through which he could make a serious charge at Jim Head for the 8th and final spot in the NHRA Countdown To The Championship.
He did all he could in Minnesota, qualifying in front of Head and running a fine lap in round one. When Tim Wilkerson, however, outran him in that opening stanza, Worsham crossed a theoretical threshold, and he put the Countdown out of his mind.
The popular Checker, Schuck's, Kragen driver can still, mathematically, pull off the miracle, but what had looked like a tall mountain to climb when in Brainerd, now looks like Everest on a bad day. The plot boils down to the fact Worsham would not only have to win this weekend's Toyo Tires Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway, he would also need Head to cooperate by losing in round one, and even that wouldn't do it if Worsham couldn't find a way to pick up at least four additional points via qualifying. With all that in mind, the owner/tuner/driver of the red CSK Impala has shifted his mental gears to focus on much smaller pictures.
"It's too big of a combination of difficult things to even think about," he said. "We could do everything right, and totally dominate the race, and Jim could even go out in the first round, but if we didn't manage to qualify near the top while he's near the bottom, we'd still finish behind him. You can't go into any race with visions like that, so we're just focusing on representing Checker, Schuck's, Kragen, and Murray's as well as we can, on every lap we run. It will work out however it works out.
"And, if we do leave Reading outside the playoffs, we're still going to head to Indy with the intention of winning there. We'll head to every race planning to qualify high and win every round, because that's all we really care about. And you know, as much as we all want to be a part of the Countdown, it's not the end of the world if we're not. If we pull off a miracle, that would be awesome, but if we don't, we'll move on and try to win every round we can. We can still finish with what I'd consider 'a good season' if we just keep running well, and we'll actually be earning points for the 2008 Skoal Showdown when we qualify at Indy, so there's one slate that will be washed clean within a few weeks. "
With the "smaller picture" goal in mind, Worsham has chosen not to look any farther ahead than the first qualifying day in Reading. Friday's schedule calls for one late afternoon run, and one pass under the lights, and every Funny Car driver knows those two laps will be key.
"Maybe not as critical as at some other races, because it's not supposed to be scalding hot, it's actually supposed to be really nice,"
Worsham said. "But, the two Friday runs will still be the key passes we'll make, so we're going there with the intention of making the most out of those two runs, starting with a good lap on Friday afternoon. I'm not going to even think about the Countdown at all. I'm going to think about winning this race for our great sponsors, including the ones that support CSK and our program so well, like Mac Tools, Chevron, Pepsi, K&N Filters, Goodyear, Autolite, and so many others. It takes an army of great sponsors to be competitive out here, and we have some of the best in the business.
"On top of all that, our blue team won this race last year but I've never been able to win at Maple Grove, so it's an important thing for me, my year, and my career. It's one of the classic facilities on the tour, one of the long-time venues with a lot of history and great fans.
I want to win at Maple Grove, and this would be a great weekend to do that, no matter how the Countdown thing works out. Give me a win, and I'll be happy."
And no matter how such a win might affect his points standings, Worsham will still remain focused on the smaller picture. Each lap, each day.
