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Del Worsham entered the final session of qualifying in the No. 12 spot, then watched as car after car created an incredibly dramatic scenario, during which the likes of John Force and his daughter, Ashley Force, grabbed the attention of the huge Pomona crowd with a "now you're out, now you're in" series of runs. Worsham was sitting precariously on the bump spot when he ran, posting a 4.797 to improve slightly over his earlier 4.800. That run only kept Worsham 16th, however, and both Gary Densham and Tim Wilkerson were yet to run and in position to ruin the season opening party.
Densham took his shot first, and did indeed run a quicker number than Worsham's, sending the red CSK team walking back toward the pit area in bitter disappointment. The big-screen replay, however, clearly showed Densham crossing the center line, so his run was tossed out and Worsham was back in, still in the 16th position. It was a bizzare reprieve at the last moment, but perhaps it was too much to ask for the number to stick through one more onslaught, as Wilkerson lined up as the final participant who could conceivably knock Worsham from the field.
When Wilkerson clicked through the lights with a big 4.72, Worsham's day, and his season-opening race, were over. He was originally in, then out, then back in, and then back out one more time. It was almost inconceivable, coming after a well documented 2006 which featured no end of razor-thin losses and disappointment, but here on a day when the quickest Funny Car field in history was put into the record books, Del Worsham missed by a hair. The bump spot, which ended up belonging to Jim Head, was 4.795. Worsham missed the show by 2-thousandths of a second.
"You turn the page, you start a new year, you get yourself ready, and here we go again," Worsham said. "The bottom line is simply that we had to run better than that 4.79 and we didn't. Jeff Arend and our blue guys did their job, and we're all proud of them, but we had it there in front of us and all we did was step up three thousandths instead of three hundredths. It's unbelievable that we come out here and the same horror show we lived through last year is right back in my face, missing by inches or missing by a thousandth or two.
"I know it was a big dramatic deal out there, with both John and Ashley Force having to bump their way in, but I have to say that the only drama I cared about was what was going to happen with us, and that drama ended badly. We said all along that this year was going to be a madhouse, with all these great teams out here. Every time we show up at a race track, all year long, there are going to be way more good cars than the 16 spots will hold, and some big budget teams, with a lot of round wins on the record, are going to DNQ. That's a fact, and by the end of the year I think you're going to see some very famous names added to this list, but none of that makes me feel better at all. Doing it at Pomona is just awful, and it's going to take me a while to get over this."
WORSHAM'S UP-AND-DOWN DAY ENDS WITH A BUMP
Del Worsham entered the final session of qualifying in the No. 12 spot, then watched as car after car created an incredibly dramatic scenario, during which the likes of John Force and his daughter, Ashley Force, grabbed the attention of the huge Pomona crowd with a "now you're out, now you're in" series of runs. Worsham was sitting precariously on the bump spot when he ran, posting a 4.797 to improve slightly over his earlier 4.800. That run only kept Worsham 16th, however, and both Gary Densham and Tim Wilkerson were yet to run and in position to ruin the season opening party.
Densham took his shot first, and did indeed run a quicker number than Worsham's, sending the red CSK team walking back toward the pit area in bitter disappointment. The big-screen replay, however, clearly showed Densham crossing the center line, so his run was tossed out and Worsham was back in, still in the 16th position. It was a bizzare reprieve at the last moment, but perhaps it was too much to ask for the number to stick through one more onslaught, as Wilkerson lined up as the final participant who could conceivably knock Worsham from the field.
When Wilkerson clicked through the lights with a big 4.72, Worsham's day, and his season-opening race, were over. He was originally in, then out, then back in, and then back out one more time. It was almost inconceivable, coming after a well documented 2006 which featured no end of razor-thin losses and disappointment, but here on a day when the quickest Funny Car field in history was put into the record books, Del Worsham missed by a hair. The bump spot, which ended up belonging to Jim Head, was 4.795. Worsham missed the show by 2-thousandths of a second.
"You turn the page, you start a new year, you get yourself ready, and here we go again," Worsham said. "The bottom line is simply that we had to run better than that 4.79 and we didn't. Jeff Arend and our blue guys did their job, and we're all proud of them, but we had it there in front of us and all we did was step up three thousandths instead of three hundredths. It's unbelievable that we come out here and the same horror show we lived through last year is right back in my face, missing by inches or missing by a thousandth or two.
"I know it was a big dramatic deal out there, with both John and Ashley Force having to bump their way in, but I have to say that the only drama I cared about was what was going to happen with us, and that drama ended badly. We said all along that this year was going to be a madhouse, with all these great teams out here. Every time we show up at a race track, all year long, there are going to be way more good cars than the 16 spots will hold, and some big budget teams, with a lot of round wins on the record, are going to DNQ. That's a fact, and by the end of the year I think you're going to see some very famous names added to this list, but none of that makes me feel better at all. Doing it at Pomona is just awful, and it's going to take me a while to get over this."
