DEL'S SIDE OF THE STORY
Del Worsham had a forgettable 2006 season, and then had his reputation
besmirched by an errant report on another website that “accused” him of
summarily dumping team driver Phil Burkhart at the last second without
sufficient notice. On the contrary, Burkhart’s responsibilities to the team
included the acquisition of additional sponsorship, which he was apparently
unable to secure. When he asked Del and his father, Chuck, near the end of the
season – well in advance of the Auto Club Finals – if he was all set for ’07 he
was told that he wasn’t, that without the additional funding he was charged with
delivering they would seek a driver capable of delivering what they needed.
Jeff Arend got the nod when he was able to secure the funding the Worsham’s
needed to be competitive.
Worsham begins the year with a brand new,
state of the art UltraComp trailer and a new in-house-built front half of his
existing chassis, although a complete new car is already underway at the Worsham
shop.
“Our performances should get better,” Worsham said, adding “And hopefully,
we’ll also have some better luck.” There’s also been an almost total crew
changeover, with only one man remaining from lastyear’s team, Terry Snyder. The
other four mechanics are all new to the Worsham camp. “It was just time for a
re-tooling,” Worsham said. “I’m not blaming anyone for our lousy performances
last year, but we did need a change.”
Worsham also said that “in the
past few years the costs of racing have gone up about 40 percent, but
sponsorships haven’t kept pace with that. That makes it tougher and tougher to
be competitive out here.”