Del Worsham smoked the tires at the 330-foot mark during Saturday's second
session during the NHRA Summernationals in Topeka, Kansas, and failed to make the field. Although a careful
analysis of the Q4 run mystified Worsham more than anything, since the car
seemed safe and on its way when it simply spun the tires for no apparent reason,
Worsham was more thoughtful about what cost him a spot in this race.
"We lost two runs to mechanical issues, including the big run on Friday
night when we were on our way to something that might have put us right at the
top of the list, and when you give back two runs like that, you're just begging
for this," Worsham said. "Drag racing is like any sport, in that you can't give
the competition more than three outs, or four downs, or too many open shots.
Here, we can't be giving laps away. We had a clutch problem last night, and
then we had a problem with one cylinder on the left side of the motor in the
first run today. We put ourselves in the hole, and put ourselves in the spot
where we had to pull one out in the last session. We weren't unlucky, I can
tell you that.
"Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah," is all Jack Beckman could say after
