Del Worsham knows he needs to focus. He knows this weekend’s O’Reilly Spring Nationals are his assignment, as he attempts to put his Checker, Schuck’s, Kragen Funny Car into the Winner’s Circle at a race sponsored by one of CSK Auto’s retail competitors. He knows his team needs to solidly begin the process of turning around a disappointing start to the 2007 season, and he’s well aware of some substantial history of his own, at Houston Raceway Park. He’s just not so sure how it’s all going to feel, after the recent loss of friend and fellow Funny Car driver, Eric Medlen.
Worsham did spend last weekend racing, on an off-weekend for the NHRA, and has, therefore, already dealt with the immediate need to grapple with Medlen’s death while he, himself, was strapped into a race car. This weekend’s Houston event, however, will be the important first full gathering of the NHRA family, though Worsham will be attending a memorial service in Indiana before heading to Houston.
“It was really hard, this past weekend when we were racing in San Antonio, ” Worsham said. “Eric got injured on Monday, and we were all beginning to think he would finally pull through, in some way. Then the word that he had passed away started to circulate on Friday afternoon, and it was all kind of surreal. We had to somehow digest the news, try to make sense of it all, and then get right in the car make a lap. Something like this tests your focus, and it hurts you inside.
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