One of Del Worsham's passions lately has been in teaching aspiring drivers how to race nitro-burning vehicles.

During the Auto Club Finals, Worsham had two of his latest pupils behind the wheel, recently named Rookie of the Year driver Bill Litton racing Top Fuel, and Ray Martin driving the Worsham Family Funny Car.

"Both came through the school, licensed and qualified for the Finals, so it’s pretty exciting being able to do that," Worsham said. "Usually the week after Pomona we go to Bakersfield for multiple days and run drivers.

"It’s just a good opportunity, especially if you already have a license and you want to upgrade, and you want to be a nitro racer, you could do that. Or if you want to be a bucket lister, you know we have programs for that too. Almost everybody gets to go 300."

Worsham admits the first couple of runs for a new driver usually elevates the anxiety level.

"These are people I really don’t know very well if they’re not already alcohol racers and you’re just going to put somebody you don’t know in your $250,000 car to go 300 miles per hour, and you’re looking at them, and you just want to look in their eyes and make sure you see confidence," Worsham explained. "When I don’t, we can work with anything, and we can work through almost everything, you just want to make sure the confidence is there. So far, just pretty much everybody that’s come through the school has gone on to race."

Driving his car to the finish line, not a problem. Watching someone else, well that takes some getting used to.

"Because I’m just not in control," Worsham explained. "And not that I’m a control freak by any means but when I’m in there I can handle most things myself and when I’m not in there, I can’t. You’ve just got to make sure that they are ready to go that fast at that point.

So what does Worsham recommend for someone seeking a nitro license?

"It just depends on what level you’re at," Worsham explained. "If you already have an alcohol license and you are an experienced driver, we’re probably going to get you through there pretty fast without a whole lot of effort. If you don’t have any experience at all, I recommend you give me a call, and we get you set up on a program to at least get you through the basics of the burnout and the staging. Worsham isn't hard to reach as he confirmed emailing him - del@worshamracing.com is the easiest route.

"I’m so busy, but I get my emails, and I will answer you, sometimes not as fast as I would like to, but I will get back to you," Worsham said. "You get ahold of me, and I will send the information to you, and maybe someday you will be the next Ron Capps."

Del Worsham and the race car became an inseparable combination with two NHRA championships as confirmation. There was a time when Worsham couldn't see himself behind the wheel of a... https://t.co/eFCPR3JKwk

— Competition Plus (@competitionplus) December 6, 2018