Frank Smith Photo
Del Worsham, and his "special edition" Chevron Techron team, did so
many things right on this Seattle weekend at the Schuck's Auto Supply
Nationals, it was hard to keep track of the highlights. And then in
one short puff of haze-like tire smoke, the very real dream of winning
his sponsor's race disappeared as fast as his starting line advantage
over Ron Capps. Worsham's first-round loss was a tough blow to take,
though the popular driver is far from out of the running for the
Countdown.
On Friday and Saturday, Worsham and his team were quick enough,
consistent enough, and highly-placed enough to earn their second Full
Throttle Pit Crew Award in the last four races. Worsham's three best
laps were 4.131, 4.073, and 4.182, and it was the super-stout 4.073
that earned him his best qualifying slot of the year, landing him in
the No. 2 spot.
"It's so tight right now, in the Funny Car class, that you can
practically just blink and go from the top of the qualifying list to
the middle, or right to the bottom," Worsham said. "When we made the
second run on Friday, we saw a lot of teams running 4.10s and times
like that, and we knew we were loaded up pretty well, tune-up wise. I
kind of figured that if it made it, it would be good. Turns out it was
good."