Del Worsham NHRA Racing Team off to a Good Start After 2nd Event

It’s still early in the 2006 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing season, and for driver Phil Burkart the early part of the season has been good.

Burkart of Del Worsham Racing earned a semi-final finish at the season opener in Pomona and came away with their second consecutive trip to the third round of racing in Phoenix, Arizona at the Firebird International Raceway.

Crowd cheers as the two CSK crews see who can tear down and build up an engine the fastest.
Crowd cheers as the two CSK crews see who can tear down and build up an engine the fastest.  (Photo courtesy of delworsham.com)

Blue Team Wins the 'Crew Challenge'
Blue Team Wins the "Crew Challenge" (Photo courtesy of delworsham.com)

K&N Flame Logo to Run All Season on Both Team Worsham Cars
K&N Flame Logo to Run All Season on Both Team Worsham Cars (Photo courtesy of delworsham.com)
Phil Burkart and his blue Checker, Schuck’s Kragen Funny Car team use K&N oil filters (HP-5001). “Arizona is in the middle of a horrible drought,” said Worsham Team Manager Bob Wilber. “The air is so dusty it’s hard to breathe. All that dust could cause problems, but with the K&N filter it was all good. In fact, we had more problems breathing than we did running our cars.”

K&N Engineering’s premium Performance Gold Oil Filter has a lot of features to satisfy the demands of racers. We use thick canister walls for extra strength and durability which reduces the risk of damage from loose rocks and debris. K&N’s filter also has drilled safety wire holes for racing and a sturdy one-inch wrench nut to make oil filter removal quick and easy.

Team Worsham may have enjoyed the K&N filter during their “crew-challenge” in Phoenix. “The red team and the blue team had to see who could work the fastest in the pit,” said Wilber. The K&N filter is easy to install, the crews could spin it on with one hand and tighten it. "A huge crowd came out to watch our two teams compete, as they started their motors, shut them off, then tore each engine down, replaced all 8 pistons, rebuilt them, and fired them up again," said Wilber. "The blue team won."

Phil left Arizona in 5th place; Del Worsham in 6th place. “Both of our cars did well,” said Wilber. “Del lost in round two by 3-thousandths of a second.” Wilber said it looked like a dead heat. “You can’t blink, you can’t snap your fingers or even think about the time 3-thousandths of a second really is in, 3-thousandths of a second,” he said. “But, you can certainly lose a drag race in 3-thousandths of a second.”

Team Worsham is getting ready for Gainesville where Phil will drive an orange and black 2005 Monte Carlo. For the first time K&N Engineering has a marketing relationship with Worsham Racing and CSK Auto, Inc., that changes the blue color to K&N colors for one race at the 37th annual Gatornationals. “It’s crazy, we have a push for Pomona, then Phoenix, then two weeks off,” said Wilber. “Just when we get into the swing of things we have to wait.”

“The body of the K&N car is ready to roll,” said Wilber. “We won’t see it until it gets to Gainesville, and we’re excited about it.” Phil will be driving the 7,000 HP 500 cubic inch Hemi supercharged K&N Nitro Funny car.

The 37th annual NHRA Gatornationals begin on March 17. It is considered the first race of the season in the east and people come from all over the world to watch, said Wilber.

It will be televised by ESPN2, check your local program guide for times and dates.

Find a K&N product using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer near you.