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Once again, a lot of things went right at this race for Del Worsham. He qualified for the field for the 12th consecutive time. He avoided being removed from the race ladder by the implementation of the "Top 10 rule," which in this case caused three initially-qualified drivers to lose their spots to three others who were originally below the bump line, but also happened to be owners of placements in the POWERade Top 10. He won a huge first round race over the always-tough Tommy Johnson, while driving his temporarily blue Checker, Schuck's, Kragen Impala to its best lap of the weekend. And, he put another very strong lap on the board in round two, but, stop us if you've heard this one before, he was edged by mere inches.
It all began with rain. Throughout the weekend, the wet stuff never ventured too far away from Pacific Raceways, so in the end only one Funny Car qualifying session could be completed, and that created the scenario in which the "Top 10 rule" came into play. Having gotten his CSK Chevy to finish line in 4.936-seconds on Saturday afternoon, which put him in the No. 11 spot after that first lap, Worsham then looked skyward to see more dark clouds and precipitation on the way. That visage gave him indigestion.
"I knew some big hitters hadn't made it down the track, and that if we only got the one run in they'd be inserted in the field," Worsham said.
"We came in here outside the Top 10 and for a while, after we ran, I wasn't sure where we sat on the grid. I was pretty convinced we were going to be one of the teams that were knocked out after they inserted the three Top 10 guys who didn't make full runs.
"Turns out, we just barely avoided that fate. They inserted Jim Head, Gary Scelzi, and Cruz Pedregon into the field, and we just missed being axed because we were 11th and Gary Densham was 12th. He got bumped out by the rule, and we made it in. It's no good for the fans when we only get to make noise once during qualifying, and it's obviously no good for the teams that think they've made it but then find out they're not in. It just is what it is, though, and we all know the rule. They may change it someday, but we all know it and we were very aware of Saturday."
Worsham's No. 11 spot created his date with Tommy Johnson, presumably on Sunday. The same persistent weather had stayed around to enjoy another day in the Seattle area, and as the teams slogged to the track early in the morning, wipers slapping away the mist, there was little hope of actually getting the event up and running. If it did stay dry, Worsham knew he'd be facing a guy who had just gone through the same thing he and his CSK team experienced only a few short weeks ago, in Norwalk.
During his lone qualifying run, Johnson banged the blower near the lights and shredded his Impala body in almost exactly the same way Worsham had done it in Ohio. Coming to the line to race with an '06 Monte Carlo, Johnson and his team had to be a little gun shy.
"I know I was, after we blew it apart in Norwalk," Worsham said. "It's such a huge explosion, and parts and pieces go flying everywhere, so when you get back in the car you just have to be confident that everything is right and will be okay the next time . We came out on Sunday morning knowing we had left a ton on the table Saturday, and that if the track was okay we could really step up. When the rain stayed away, and I got out there to walk the track, I knew we could go very fast."
That they did, as Worsham never trailed in his first-round race. Streaking down the track to a mammoth 4.807, Worsham left Johnson's Monte Carlo behind him with room to spare. At the time, the 4.80 was the quickest run of the round, but minutes later it wasn't even good enough for lane choice, as Worsham's second-round opponent, Jack Beckman, posted a slightly better 4.790.
Somewhat miraculously, the skies stayed thick and dark but no rain came as the teams serviced their cars between rounds. Back to the starting line they went, hoping to get the second round completed before much darker clouds, seen through the trees, could arrive overhead. Then, when Ashley Force crashed heavily, right in front of Worsham and Beckman, a long delay ensued.
"Man, she crashed hard, and all that new safety equipment they've put on those cars probably saved her from getting knocked out, or worse," Worsham said. "I didn't have the best view of it, strapped in my car, but I saw the replays and it was pretty vicious. Once we saw her get out of the car, and she was obviously okay, we all could breath again, but we knew we had a long wait on our hands and the sky was getting darker and darker."
As if scripted, the teams waited out the clean-up delay before Worsham and Beckman finally got suited up and strapped back into their machines, at which time the teams pulled forward to the water boxes to pick up where they had left off. Just as they prepared to spin over the motors, the first rain drops fell.
About a half-hour later, once the misty shower had passed and the track had been dried, it was "Take Three" and the race was on again. This time, Worsham and Beckman left the line with identical reaction times.
They stayed side-by-side past the 60-foot marker, the 330, and the 660. Their cars screamed down the track in a choreographed dance, never so much as trading positions as they went.
At the stripe, as has happened so often in the last year and a half, it was Worsham taking home nothing more than the knowledge he and his team had performed admirably, as Beckman inched ahead to take the win with a 4.832 to Worsham nearly equally-strong 4.845.
"Winning a round here was great, and we felt good about that, but we're all really tired of losing these close races," Worsham said. "I know it's really kind of a backhanded compliment to our team and our tune-up, because you don't lose to great teams by inches if you're not running pretty well yourself, but we seem to be on some sort of roll where the close ones almost always go the other way. Today we lost by a hundredth, and over the last year we've lost by thousandths, even by 10-thousandths. We just want to win so bad we can taste it, but it keeps getting yanked away before we can dig in.
"We're right there, man, right there. What the heck, we beat a very good team in round one, and that was a big thing for us. But, as great as it feels to run really well, and give all these guys a good fight, I'm really ready to start seeing these deals go the other way. I'm tired of not knowing who won until I hear from the guys on the radio. All we can do is keep the faith and go to Sonoma."
To Sonoma it is, where just a few scant days from now Worsham will light it up again, in his Checker, Schuck's, Kragen Impala. Perhaps this time, the inches will go the other way. Keep the faith.
WORSHAM'S QUARTERFINAL FINISH ENCOURAGING, BUT STILL INFURIATING
Once again, a lot of things went right at this race for Del Worsham. He qualified for the field for the 12th consecutive time. He avoided being removed from the race ladder by the implementation of the "Top 10 rule," which in this case caused three initially-qualified drivers to lose their spots to three others who were originally below the bump line, but also happened to be owners of placements in the POWERade Top 10. He won a huge first round race over the always-tough Tommy Johnson, while driving his temporarily blue Checker, Schuck's, Kragen Impala to its best lap of the weekend. And, he put another very strong lap on the board in round two, but, stop us if you've heard this one before, he was edged by mere inches.
It all began with rain. Throughout the weekend, the wet stuff never ventured too far away from Pacific Raceways, so in the end only one Funny Car qualifying session could be completed, and that created the scenario in which the "Top 10 rule" came into play. Having gotten his CSK Chevy to finish line in 4.936-seconds on Saturday afternoon, which put him in the No. 11 spot after that first lap, Worsham then looked skyward to see more dark clouds and precipitation on the way. That visage gave him indigestion.
"I knew some big hitters hadn't made it down the track, and that if we only got the one run in they'd be inserted in the field," Worsham said.
"We came in here outside the Top 10 and for a while, after we ran, I wasn't sure where we sat on the grid. I was pretty convinced we were going to be one of the teams that were knocked out after they inserted the three Top 10 guys who didn't make full runs.
"Turns out, we just barely avoided that fate. They inserted Jim Head, Gary Scelzi, and Cruz Pedregon into the field, and we just missed being axed because we were 11th and Gary Densham was 12th. He got bumped out by the rule, and we made it in. It's no good for the fans when we only get to make noise once during qualifying, and it's obviously no good for the teams that think they've made it but then find out they're not in. It just is what it is, though, and we all know the rule. They may change it someday, but we all know it and we were very aware of Saturday."
Worsham's No. 11 spot created his date with Tommy Johnson, presumably on Sunday. The same persistent weather had stayed around to enjoy another day in the Seattle area, and as the teams slogged to the track early in the morning, wipers slapping away the mist, there was little hope of actually getting the event up and running. If it did stay dry, Worsham knew he'd be facing a guy who had just gone through the same thing he and his CSK team experienced only a few short weeks ago, in Norwalk.
During his lone qualifying run, Johnson banged the blower near the lights and shredded his Impala body in almost exactly the same way Worsham had done it in Ohio. Coming to the line to race with an '06 Monte Carlo, Johnson and his team had to be a little gun shy.
"I know I was, after we blew it apart in Norwalk," Worsham said. "It's such a huge explosion, and parts and pieces go flying everywhere, so when you get back in the car you just have to be confident that everything is right and will be okay the next time . We came out on Sunday morning knowing we had left a ton on the table Saturday, and that if the track was okay we could really step up. When the rain stayed away, and I got out there to walk the track, I knew we could go very fast."
That they did, as Worsham never trailed in his first-round race. Streaking down the track to a mammoth 4.807, Worsham left Johnson's Monte Carlo behind him with room to spare. At the time, the 4.80 was the quickest run of the round, but minutes later it wasn't even good enough for lane choice, as Worsham's second-round opponent, Jack Beckman, posted a slightly better 4.790.
Somewhat miraculously, the skies stayed thick and dark but no rain came as the teams serviced their cars between rounds. Back to the starting line they went, hoping to get the second round completed before much darker clouds, seen through the trees, could arrive overhead. Then, when Ashley Force crashed heavily, right in front of Worsham and Beckman, a long delay ensued.
"Man, she crashed hard, and all that new safety equipment they've put on those cars probably saved her from getting knocked out, or worse," Worsham said. "I didn't have the best view of it, strapped in my car, but I saw the replays and it was pretty vicious. Once we saw her get out of the car, and she was obviously okay, we all could breath again, but we knew we had a long wait on our hands and the sky was getting darker and darker."
As if scripted, the teams waited out the clean-up delay before Worsham and Beckman finally got suited up and strapped back into their machines, at which time the teams pulled forward to the water boxes to pick up where they had left off. Just as they prepared to spin over the motors, the first rain drops fell.
About a half-hour later, once the misty shower had passed and the track had been dried, it was "Take Three" and the race was on again. This time, Worsham and Beckman left the line with identical reaction times.
They stayed side-by-side past the 60-foot marker, the 330, and the 660. Their cars screamed down the track in a choreographed dance, never so much as trading positions as they went.
At the stripe, as has happened so often in the last year and a half, it was Worsham taking home nothing more than the knowledge he and his team had performed admirably, as Beckman inched ahead to take the win with a 4.832 to Worsham nearly equally-strong 4.845.
"Winning a round here was great, and we felt good about that, but we're all really tired of losing these close races," Worsham said. "I know it's really kind of a backhanded compliment to our team and our tune-up, because you don't lose to great teams by inches if you're not running pretty well yourself, but we seem to be on some sort of roll where the close ones almost always go the other way. Today we lost by a hundredth, and over the last year we've lost by thousandths, even by 10-thousandths. We just want to win so bad we can taste it, but it keeps getting yanked away before we can dig in.
"We're right there, man, right there. What the heck, we beat a very good team in round one, and that was a big thing for us. But, as great as it feels to run really well, and give all these guys a good fight, I'm really ready to start seeing these deals go the other way. I'm tired of not knowing who won until I hear from the guys on the radio. All we can do is keep the faith and go to Sonoma."
To Sonoma it is, where just a few scant days from now Worsham will light it up again, in his Checker, Schuck's, Kragen Impala. Perhaps this time, the inches will go the other way. Keep the faith.
