WORSHAM KICKS OFF SEASON

POMONA, CA – Del Worsham had a strong start with his Lucas Oil Toyota Camry Funny Car at the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season-opening Circle K NHRA Winternationals on Sunday at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.

The 2015 NHRA Funny Car champion qualified 12th in his first race back on his family owned team, Worsham Racing.

“We qualified well. Not a career best time, but for that team and for my dad’s car that was the best time we ever ran. I thought with the weather conditions and the position we were in, we did a great job qualifying to get ourselves in the show and run as good as we did,” said Worsham.

In the first round Worsham defeated Robert Hight with a pass of 4.008 seconds at 313.15 mph.

“I was just glad that we went out and made a good clean run. I knew that if both cars performed to their ability, at this point we probably couldn’t outrun Robert Hight, so it was just a good clean run down the track,” explained Worsham. “If he faltered at all we would go ahead and get the win. When I saw his car start smoking the tires I was definitely excited for my dad and the entire team.”

In the second round Worsham lost to Ron Capps after rattling the tires. Despite the loss, Worsham remains optimistic on how his team performed.

“It actually went better than I had hoped. I was hoping to win a round, which we did. But we made a bunch of good runs and parts damage was at a minimum, so I was definitely pleased with it. I am definitely looking forward to Phoenix,” summed up Worsham.

Worsham views this first race as a learning experience, while he’s still building his team. After the first race he is now tied for sixth in points, and he knows he has room for improvement.

“We learned that as a group we came out here and we can race together and that we are already starting to gel. I can already feel that this team wants to be together, and they all want to work together,” said Worsham. “And our sponsor, Lucas Oil, wants to work with us. So I feel like the entire team is just working really well together. If I base the season off of what happened at this first race, and we can keep improving, I would say that this is gonna be a great season.”

The NHRA Arizona Nationals is set for February 24-26.

Photos courtesy of Auto Imagery Inc. for media use only