Del Worsham was supposed to be slowing down. Instead, the veteran racer is closing the 2025 season with a coast-to-coast, three-week stretch that would make even his younger self pause.
Worsham raced Funny Car last weekend at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and now heads east to compete in the IHRA season finale in North Carolina before returning to Pomona for the NHRA Finals. In total, his late-season run will take him from Nevada to North Carolina and back to California in less than a month.
“Racing in Las Vegas in Funny Car, where I drove. It’s going to be fun,” Worsham said. “We’re going to race in Pomona also in two weeks, but in between we’re going to go back and run the final race for the IHRA. So we’re going to race Nevada, North Carolina, and California — three weeks in a row.”
The schedule sounds like something from drag racing’s barnstorming era, when teams chased races across the country week after week. But for Worsham, the logistics are a little easier this time around. “Luckily it’s all air time,” he said. “We’re going to use our other truck and trailer and all of our other stuff we have back east for that. This stuff’s all going to stay here. So we’re not driving back and forth, but we are racing both.”
That separation of operations — one based on the West Coast, the other back east — allows Worsham’s team to pull off the rare double. It’s a strategy that draws on decades of experience managing both the driving and tuning sides of drag racing.
Worsham proudly admits he’s driving all three events, whereas most of the season, he’s been the crew chief. Except at IHRA events, where he’s driven at all events and reached all four final rounds.
For a man who once thought his driving days were limited to select appearances, the return to a full schedule has been refreshing. “I thought you were doing an easier life where you kind of sit back, but now you’re back in the thick of it,” he was told.
“I am,” Worsham replied. “I’m just having fun. It’s been enjoyable this year, and we’re at the end of the year and we’re on the West Coast. It’s where I started racing. My family’s out here, and I thought it’d be fun to come out and run these last couple races out here. So here we are.”
The 2025 campaign has seen Worsham blend business and nostalgia — operating teams, mentoring drivers, and occasionally jumping back into the seat himself. His latest run, spanning multiple series and time zones, is both a nod to his early barnstorming roots and a reminder that the racer in him still refuses to sit still.
“I just love being part of it,” Worsham said. “It’s what I’ve always done. Might as well finish the year doing what I love — racing.”
WHAT I AM THANKFUL FOR WITH FUNNY CAR BUDDY HULL