Del Worsham knows it's go time for a Countdown berth. (Roger Richards)
The countdown to The Countdown has reached T-minus 10, and Del Worsham
can recite every step of the way between this point and blast-off. Like an
insanely twisted railway itinerary, it consists of stops in Topeka, Chicago,
Englishtown, Norwalk, Denver, Seattle, Sonoma, Brainerd, Reading, and
Indianapolis. All aboard!
This wild ride to the playoffs continues with this weekend's O'Reilly
Summer Nationals at Heartland Park, just minutes south of the Kansas capital,
and Worsham knows his margin for error, at a track that has never treated him
very kindly, is razor-thin. Still holding the 10th spot on the POWERade points
list, Worsham has but a seven-point lead over Jack Beckman, while Bob Tasca and
Jim Head are only 21 and 23 points behind, respectively. As the summer heats
up, and all 10 participants in the Countdown to the Championship are
sorted out and decided, Worsham's final fate my rest on a race like this one,
where his spot in the Top 10 is at stake.
"I don't care if it's drag racing, basketball, or any other sport, you
always want to be in one of those playoff positions, no matter how much of the
regular season is left," Worsham said. "The points all get shuffled, every
week, but as long as you're in one of those spots, someone else has to look up
at you and figure out how to catch you. That's better than the other way
around.