Championship Drag Racing

Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals
Richmond, VA
(October 13-15)

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Driver Profile

Del Worsham DHL Toyota

Richmond, prerace: In basketball they often say shooting can be contagious, and when one dead-eye guard begins to fill it up the others on his team catch the rhythm and the offense begins to click. The same goes for baseball, when one hot hitter gets the entire offense rolling, and hockey, where one fast-skating sniper can lift the play of his entire team. Del Worsham, who drives the red Checker, Schuck's, Kragen Monte Carlo on the NHRA POWERade tour, believes the same goes for drag racing, and he has the historical evidence to prove it. This weekend, at the Torco Racing Fuels Nationals, near Richmond, he's itching to see if the winning ways of his teammate, Phil Burkart, will translate into an offensive scoring barrage from both sides of the CSK pit area.

Worsham and Burkart had struggled through most of the 2006 season, after having gotten off to solid starts with a string of multi-round finishes at the first five races. As the frustration level built throughout the summer, and the losses began to mount, both teams were often finding themselves trying harder, but winning less. The tide began to turn when both Worsham and Burkart posted big first-round wins in Reading this past weekend, and although Worsham was then edged in round two, Burkart went on to win the race, and rally the hopes of every member and fan of Team CSK.

"First of all, it was a huge win for Phil and his guys, and it was a great day," Worsham said. "The way this year has gone, every one of us was wound up and right in the middle of Phil's success, both in terms of helping on his car and just rooting for them. We all went pretty nuts right after he won, which was only natural, and then we had a nice celebration after the race, but not at all in the rowdy sense. It was actually very calm, kind of like we all felt the release of a ton of pressure and everyone just enjoyed the moment.

"In the past, both of our teams really have fed off each other quite a bit, and we've had the ability to string some pretty good races together. I'm excited to get to Richmond, because both of our cars are running better than they have in a long while, and maybe we're about to put a nice finish on what has been a very difficult season. Our guys were thrilled for Phil and his team, but they really need some success too, so the goal here is to carry the ball and have some fun this weekend."

Looking back over the history of the Worsham/Burkart tandem, the ability of one team to contagiously lift the other to great results is not hard to spot. It was most evident in 2004, when Worsham won the second race of the year, in Phoenix, and then went back-to-back by taking the trophy at the next event, in Gainesville. To that point, Burkart had done no better than a semi-final finish, but he came right back to win the next stop on the tour, in Las Vegas, giving Team CSK three wins in a row. By the end of the season, Worsham had won five races, Burkart two, and both drivers finished the year in the POWERade Top Ten, with Worsham landing a career-best No. 2 on the year-end podium.

"That was a great year, no doubt about it, and both teams really did take the cue from each other," Worsham said. "For a while there, it seemed like we had a car in the final round every week. On the flip side, when things started to get a little rough this season, I think the frustration dragged both teams down quite a bit. Our morale was about as low as it's ever been going into the Reading race. The guys were beaten down, tired of it, and just plain tired. The win lifted everyone up, so I know my guys are really itching to get to Richmond now. Before the win, there wasn't a lot of excitement around here.

"The better news is that there's more to our excitement than just Phil's win. We're getting our act back together here, and we're finally starting to run pretty well again. It's been a slow, and very painful, process over the last month or so, but we took out a tough car in the first round last weekend, and we're making headway. Right now, I'm just focused on continuing that progress. I'm not really thinking of going to Richmond and running the table, but I don't think Phil and his guys were thinking that way either and they took out four of the best cars in the sport. You never know."

For the first time in a long time, Worsham is sitting at the table looking at some tasty entrees, rather than dreading the tasteless mush of a dreadful stretch of racing. His teammate has had the chance to consume the incomparable flavor of a winner's feast, and Worsham is now ready to order. Menu please!

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