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Two weeks ago, when Del Worsham arrived in Houston for the season's fourth race, he was clearly a man at odds with his race car, if not his entire season. He was 20th on the points sheet, had failed to qualify at the season's first two races, and had lost in the first round at the third. Things, for Del Worsham, were not going well.
Now, two races later, Mr. Worsham seems to have found at least a bit of his stride. After a semi-final finish in Houston, he earned a quarter-final result here in Las Vegas and what had been a winless season with a 20th place ranking, is now a campaign at the .500 mark, as Worsham has squared his record at 3-3. On top of that, the popular Checker, Schuck's, Kragen driver has again leapfrogged ahead in the standings, all the way to the No. 10 position. After such a horrible start, Worsham now finds himself only a handful of points out of the top eight for the "Countdown," with 12 races left to go before that 8-car playoff field is set.
Two weeks ago in Houston, things began to turn around with a solid ualifying effort, though Worsham's car then inexplicably smoked the tires in round one. Luck was on his side there, though, as Gary Densham fouled at the start, handing Worsham his first round win of the year.
"The car started coming around in Houston, despite the goofy tire smoke in round one," Worsham said. "It did what we wanted it to do in qualifying, but more importantly it was staying together. We had to fix our parts breakage problem, and we really made progress toward doing that in Houston. The object here, in Las Vegas, was to continue to run well in qualifying, and then make some good laps on Sunday while still not blowing up. Plus, we got to debut our first new Impala here, and I figured that would be a positive thing for us."
In qualifying, Worsham joined a lengthy list of competitors who were unable to complete their first qualifying lap, and with the second session coming "under the lights" on Friday night, he was well aware that a secure spot in the field was probably dependent upon a solid Friday night run. He delivered, with a 4.803 that shot him up the qualifying list to the No. 7 spot, at the time.
"That was a big run for us," Worsham said. "The Impala worked great, the car ran well, and we brought it back to the pit with all the parts still inside the motor. You could feel our confidence continuing to grow, and we were all pretty excited going into Saturday."
On Saturday, the first session was again marred by consistent tire smoke throughout the class, as the teams competed under a bright Nevada sun. As the final session drew near, one look at the qualifying sheet made it absolutely clear there would be a ton of drama unfolding, as championship teams were either at the bottom of the field, or not yet in. Worsham figured his earlier time was safe for the show, but he wanted to end qualifying on a positive note.
"The idea there was to make a full lap, and hopefully lower our number a little," he said. "We ran well, putting a 4.83 on the board, and although that didn't help our qualifying position, it continued to help our mindset. We're trying to get back to being as competitive as we've normally been, but we're also trying to avoid big huge moves. We won't go from being a DNQ team, to a mid-pack team, to the top of the heap on one lap. We're trying to get better one step at a time.
"So, I wasn't unhappy with the run and I knew we had a car that would go down the track on Sunday. Well, I did say that if the car smoked the tires on Sunday I'd know it was possessed, because there was just no way it should do that. I felt pretty good going into the race, but I'll admit to being pretty shellshocked by all the stuff that went on in the last qualifying session."
All the stuff, as referenced by Worsham, included a marathon session of position bumping, and in the end John Force's amazing streak of 395 straight races without a DNQ went by the wayside. When the field was finally set, Worsham was No. 10, and the same Gary Densham who faced him in Houston would again be the opponent.
Sunday dawned with an odd mix of sun and clouds, with temperatures swinging wildly from hot to cool, making it anything but a tuner's paradise. For Worsham, though, it was a track he knew he could get down.
"Gary had lane choice, but I didn't really think that was too critical. The key thing was to read the track and the weather right, so that you could make a full lap under power. We wanted to go a little quicker than we did, but we got there first."
How they got there first is a tribute to the driver. As Worsham edged out Densham, by mere inches, the scoreboards showed a 4.842 on Worsham's side of the track, and a much quicker 4.804 on Densham's. The win light, however, was flashing on Worsham's side, as his sterling .069 reaction time was just enough to overtake Densham's performance advantage. Round one to Worsham, and it came courtesy of a fast car, and a brilliant driver.
In round two, the familiar colors of Robert Hight's machine would line up next to Worsham's new red and white CSK Impala, and Worsham knew what that meant.
"If that car runs to the finish line, it's almost always huge," he said. "When you beat those guys, you usually do it on a day when there's a lot of tire smoke, tire shake, or weird things going on, but not on a tight track like this. You don't often flat outrun them when they're on their game."
Both Worsham and Hight left the line extremely well, with nearly identical reaction times. After that, Worsham's new Chevy powered to a much improved 4.819 at a strong 322.96 mph. The only hitch, however, was the fact Hight posted a stunning 4.728.
"What are you going to do," Worsham asked, rhetorically. "We were not going to try to step up a tenth in one run, and then get mad that we tried to do too much at one time. We wanted to improve, we wanted to keep the motor in the car, and we wanted to give them a good fight. We did all of that, but they beat us. I don't think we're the first, and we're not going to be the last.
"I feel really good about everything right now. We'll just keep working on it, keep pecking away at the tune-up, and I think we're going to be fine. It's a constant work in progress, but there's no doubt it's getting better. And, it's nice to be back up in the points, in the hunt for the Countdown."
From a team perspective, it's also nice to have a guy who can win a lap
for you at the starting line, keep the car in the middle, and just flat do it. A fast running car, a solid tune-up that no longer hurts parts on a consistent basis, and driver like Del Worsham... Not a bad combination.
WORSHAM'S QUARTERFINAL FINISH VAULTS HIM INTO THE TOP 10
Two weeks ago, when Del Worsham arrived in Houston for the season's fourth race, he was clearly a man at odds with his race car, if not his entire season. He was 20th on the points sheet, had failed to qualify at the season's first two races, and had lost in the first round at the third. Things, for Del Worsham, were not going well.
Now, two races later, Mr. Worsham seems to have found at least a bit of his stride. After a semi-final finish in Houston, he earned a quarter-final result here in Las Vegas and what had been a winless season with a 20th place ranking, is now a campaign at the .500 mark, as Worsham has squared his record at 3-3. On top of that, the popular Checker, Schuck's, Kragen driver has again leapfrogged ahead in the standings, all the way to the No. 10 position. After such a horrible start, Worsham now finds himself only a handful of points out of the top eight for the "Countdown," with 12 races left to go before that 8-car playoff field is set.
Two weeks ago in Houston, things began to turn around with a solid ualifying effort, though Worsham's car then inexplicably smoked the tires in round one. Luck was on his side there, though, as Gary Densham fouled at the start, handing Worsham his first round win of the year.
"The car started coming around in Houston, despite the goofy tire smoke in round one," Worsham said. "It did what we wanted it to do in qualifying, but more importantly it was staying together. We had to fix our parts breakage problem, and we really made progress toward doing that in Houston. The object here, in Las Vegas, was to continue to run well in qualifying, and then make some good laps on Sunday while still not blowing up. Plus, we got to debut our first new Impala here, and I figured that would be a positive thing for us."
In qualifying, Worsham joined a lengthy list of competitors who were unable to complete their first qualifying lap, and with the second session coming "under the lights" on Friday night, he was well aware that a secure spot in the field was probably dependent upon a solid Friday night run. He delivered, with a 4.803 that shot him up the qualifying list to the No. 7 spot, at the time.
"That was a big run for us," Worsham said. "The Impala worked great, the car ran well, and we brought it back to the pit with all the parts still inside the motor. You could feel our confidence continuing to grow, and we were all pretty excited going into Saturday."
On Saturday, the first session was again marred by consistent tire smoke throughout the class, as the teams competed under a bright Nevada sun. As the final session drew near, one look at the qualifying sheet made it absolutely clear there would be a ton of drama unfolding, as championship teams were either at the bottom of the field, or not yet in. Worsham figured his earlier time was safe for the show, but he wanted to end qualifying on a positive note.
"The idea there was to make a full lap, and hopefully lower our number a little," he said. "We ran well, putting a 4.83 on the board, and although that didn't help our qualifying position, it continued to help our mindset. We're trying to get back to being as competitive as we've normally been, but we're also trying to avoid big huge moves. We won't go from being a DNQ team, to a mid-pack team, to the top of the heap on one lap. We're trying to get better one step at a time.
"So, I wasn't unhappy with the run and I knew we had a car that would go down the track on Sunday. Well, I did say that if the car smoked the tires on Sunday I'd know it was possessed, because there was just no way it should do that. I felt pretty good going into the race, but I'll admit to being pretty shellshocked by all the stuff that went on in the last qualifying session."
All the stuff, as referenced by Worsham, included a marathon session of position bumping, and in the end John Force's amazing streak of 395 straight races without a DNQ went by the wayside. When the field was finally set, Worsham was No. 10, and the same Gary Densham who faced him in Houston would again be the opponent.
Sunday dawned with an odd mix of sun and clouds, with temperatures swinging wildly from hot to cool, making it anything but a tuner's paradise. For Worsham, though, it was a track he knew he could get down.
"Gary had lane choice, but I didn't really think that was too critical. The key thing was to read the track and the weather right, so that you could make a full lap under power. We wanted to go a little quicker than we did, but we got there first."
How they got there first is a tribute to the driver. As Worsham edged out Densham, by mere inches, the scoreboards showed a 4.842 on Worsham's side of the track, and a much quicker 4.804 on Densham's. The win light, however, was flashing on Worsham's side, as his sterling .069 reaction time was just enough to overtake Densham's performance advantage. Round one to Worsham, and it came courtesy of a fast car, and a brilliant driver.
In round two, the familiar colors of Robert Hight's machine would line up next to Worsham's new red and white CSK Impala, and Worsham knew what that meant.
"If that car runs to the finish line, it's almost always huge," he said. "When you beat those guys, you usually do it on a day when there's a lot of tire smoke, tire shake, or weird things going on, but not on a tight track like this. You don't often flat outrun them when they're on their game."
Both Worsham and Hight left the line extremely well, with nearly identical reaction times. After that, Worsham's new Chevy powered to a much improved 4.819 at a strong 322.96 mph. The only hitch, however, was the fact Hight posted a stunning 4.728.
"What are you going to do," Worsham asked, rhetorically. "We were not going to try to step up a tenth in one run, and then get mad that we tried to do too much at one time. We wanted to improve, we wanted to keep the motor in the car, and we wanted to give them a good fight. We did all of that, but they beat us. I don't think we're the first, and we're not going to be the last.
"I feel really good about everything right now. We'll just keep working on it, keep pecking away at the tune-up, and I think we're going to be fine. It's a constant work in progress, but there's no doubt it's getting better. And, it's nice to be back up in the points, in the hunt for the Countdown."
From a team perspective, it's also nice to have a guy who can win a lap
for you at the starting line, keep the car in the middle, and just flat do it. A fast running car, a solid tune-up that no longer hurts parts on a consistent basis, and driver like Del Worsham... Not a bad combination.
