NHRA Gatornationals Bittersweet for Del Worsham in K&N Filters Impala Funny Car

Del Worsham had a great round one in the K&N Filters Impala at the AC Delco Gatornationals in Gainesville, Florida. In the second round, however, a mysterious failure in his car’s timer box meant it could have been a lot better overall.

K&N Filters NHRA Funny Car at Gainesville Raceway
K&N Filters NHRA Funny Car at Gainesville Raceway
Persistant rain plagued the Gatornationals in Florida
Persistant rain plagued the Gatornationals in Florida
Worsham made the field to break a two-race DNQ (did not qualify) skid and landed in the 10th spot on the strength of two solid and consistent runs. He then faced off with Robert Hight in round one, and won by out-dueling Hight in a side-by-side pedaling contest. The next step was to take out Gary Densham in round two.
Del Worhsam defeated Robert Hight in round one at AC Delco Gatornationals
Del Worsham defeated Robert Hight in round one at AC Delco Gatornationals
Del Worsham expertly managed to corral his 7,000 hp K&N Impala
Del Worsham expertly managed to corral his 7,000 hp K&N Impala

“After the warm-up we went to set the timers and the whole system was dead,” said Worsham. “We were the seventh pair in the first round and the first pair in the second round, so we had just the minimum amount of time and never found a way to work around the problem. An hour after the lap, after getting back to the pit, we still had not found the problem. We went up there broken.”

Worsham took the Impala to the line. “We could do a burnout, stage the car and even launch it,” he said. “It just wasn’t going to get anywhere and I really couldn’t pedal it once it smoked the tires.” Worsham then watched Densham coast to a win.

Qualifying at Gainesville Raceway was difficult. There was a persistent rain throughout Friday and the first two rounds were washed out. With 23 Funny Cars trying for 16 positions during the two Saturday runs, there was no room for error. Worsham put a 4.956 on the board to land 8th after one run, improved to a 4.903 in the K&N Filters Impala on the final pass to clinch the No. 10 spot. It was also Worsham’s first qualifying position of the year.

In round one, Worsham lined up next to Hight, taking on one of the fastest cars in the sport. Hight got the jump at the flash of amber, but Worsham charged hard to the 330 mark. The K&N Filters Implala began to spin the tires but Hight lost traction only fractions of a second later. What began as a tuner’s race became a driver’s duel in an instant.

Worsham crossed the finish line charging, at 290 mph, clicking through the beams in 5.331 to Hight’s 5.536. Despite the next round of problems in round two, Worsham is officially ahead of his pace from 2007. “Right now we’re on a search and destroy mission to figure out the mystery gremlins in our car,” said Worsham. “We just need to keep improving and building our consistency.”

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