On the very day the drag racing world learned that Del Worsham had been selected to drive Alan Johnson’s new Funny Car in 2009, which also means the “Team CSK” version of Worsham Racing will also cease to exist once the 2008 campaign concludes, there was plenty of nervousness, distraction, and speculation to go around in the team’s pit area. In the end, there was no better way to cut through it all, prove the team’s professionalism, and let the class know Worsham Racing is not fading away without a major effort, than to put a huge 4.092 on the board to land 3rd after Friday night.
Worsham ran side-by-side with Ashley Force on the lap, and both ran identical times, but Force got the nod for the No. 2 spot on the basis of speed, posting a 304.46 mph clocking to Worsham’s also-strong 303.03 mph reading.
“Today was a big day, with the announcement and all that,” Worsham said. “I kind of just hid in the office and thought about tune-ups, to tell you the truth, because I wasn’t comfortable being out there answering a ton of questions when we still have a race to run, for our friends at Checker, Schuck’s, Kragen and for ourselves. I know it was a shock to some people, but our guys are pros and they have a massive amount of pride. We always want to win, but if it’s possible to turn the knob for that desire up to 11, they did it. We don’t want anyone to think we’re not still out here to do our best.”
“The first run was a little sketchy, and it got way down there and started spinning on me, so I got out of it. Somehow, we still ended up pretty far back in line for the late run, and that probably helped a lot. I will say this, knowing we’re on our last few races as a group is one reason we don’t second-guess the tune-up a hundred times. My dad and I looked at each other, and at Marc Denner, and we all just said ‘Go big, or go home’. “We’re being aggressive, and it’s kind of fun. We don’t have much to lose, and we have a ton to gain by winning out here, so we just want to go for it and make it pay off.”
| 
|