MEMPHIS—The final stage of the NHRA Countdown to the Championship is taking place at six consecutive races, to wrap up the 2008 POWERade season, but Del Worsham and his Checker, Schuck’s, Kragen team missed out on that party by one slot on the points sheet. Instead, after a blockbuster announcement this past weekend in Dallas where it was revealed that Worsham will shift to Alan Johnson’s new Funny Car in 2009, it is a countdown of another sort that is in the forefront of the popular driver’s mind. Del Worsham now has only four races left as the driver of the family car.
Another terrific qualifying effort in Dallas, where Worsham landed in the No. 3 spot for the second consecutive race, made it clear that the performance of the monochrome CSK Chevy has picked up in a very real way, but a frustratingly quick exit in round one on Sunday showed his race-day results are still a far cry from the halcyon days of his multi-win seasons, just a few years ago. With the clock rapidly ticking, that is the one part of Worsham’s agenda that remains his constant anthem during these final races in ‘08, and getting back to the Winner’s Circle is the prime mover for his motivation and mindset.
“As excited as I am about the new deal, and to know I’ll be working with Alan Johnson, Aaron Brooks, and a great team next year, I’d still like to make time stand still a little bit before 2008 is over,” Worsham said. “We’ve been qualifying great, since the beginning of the summer, but we’re still working on how we translate that over to Sunday. It’s not like it’s the same thing every race, but it’s been a string of bad luck, bad calls, or bad something. We just can’t seem to get back to where we start strong and finish even stronger.”
“Considering I’ve been driving the family car, or working on it, for most of my life, I don’t have much experience in dealing with the end of an era like this. I just want to make the most of it, and it would be so enormous if we could string some good laps together on Sunday, and have one more shot at a big celebration. That would be the ultimate way to wrap this up, whether it’s in Memphis this weekend, Richmond after that, or either Vegas or Pomona. Obviously, winning in my backyard in Pomona, at the last race for CSK and for our team, would be pretty much the ultimate, but I really don’t want to wait that long. I want to win this weekend, and maybe get on a roll for the last four.”
Winning four rounds this weekend would do more than simply elevate Team CSK’s mood, it would also allow Worsham to check-off one additional track on his personal list of “never won there” venues. Throughout his 17-year career, and 22 career victories, he has never won at Memphis Motorsports Park, and taking home the trophy at this weekend’s O’Reilly Mid-South Nationals would be a perfect capper near the end of this “final tour” campaign.
“We’ve won a lot of O’Reilly-sponsored races over the years, and I obviously know all those guys pretty well, so I’m always up for adding one more Wally with their logo to my trophy case,” Worsham said. “I actually wouldn’t care who sponsors the race if I could win it. I’m pretty much an equal-opportunity racer, who is happy to get any round win, at any track, on any day.”
“One little victory would sure go a long way right now; I know that for a fact. Our guys are busting their tails, working hard, and putting everything they have into this. No one on this team is coasting, and we’re not holding back. If we have parts, we’re using them. If we can’t decide on the tune-up, we’re getting aggressive. It’s all-out right now, and we’re focused on each lap like it’s one of the last.”
One more chance to celebrate before Worsham makes his exit, stage left. One more chance to hold the trophy high and hug his father and teammates. Only time will tell if Memphis is the place, and this weekend the time.
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