Worsham Leads Al-Anabi Racing To NHRA Seattle Event

Del Worsham enters the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Northwest Nationals in first place in the NHRA Full Throttle Top Fuel point standings. He leads second-place Spencer Massey by 82 points.

Worsham has advanced to at least the semifinals in nine of the 13 races this season. In those 13 races, Worsham has five wins in six final rounds, a runner-up and three semifinal appearances making him 31-8 in eliminations this year. He won races at Gainesville, Fla., Charlotte, Baytown, Texas, Norwalk, Ohio and Joliet, Ill.

Worsham has qualified first or second at seven of the last 10 races including six of the last eight. He has four No. 1 qualifiers this season. Last weekend in Sonoma, Worsham was the No. 7 qualifier; he defeated Clay Millican and Spencer Massey before losing to Antron Brown in the semifinals.

Worsham prior to Seattle:
“We didn’t get the win we were looking for at Sonoma last weekend, but it was a pretty good weekend because the Al-Anabi car ran well, and we extended our points lead. We’ll try to get it done this week in Seattle.

“We’re down to 12 rounds of racing left in the regular season, and we have a four-round lead. I like our chances of being the No. 1 seed in the Countdown (Countdown to 1 NHRA Playoffs), but I think it’ll come down to Indianapolis and possibly the final round until we determine who the No. 1 seed will be. It’s great to be in the Countdown, but the big prize is being the top seed because of the points that come with it.

“Even with how good the racing has been in Top Fuel this season, I believe it will be even better in the last three regular-season races because that top seed is still out there. Then, once we get into the countdown and there’s 10 teams racing for a championship, it’ll get even better. I think the way Top Fuel has been this season is a preview of what the fans will see.

“It’s fun being in this position; it’s intense and demanding. I’ve watched this process from a distance for 20 years, but I’ve never been a part of it before. I can see how Schumacher and Dixon may have an advantage coming down the stretch because they have so much experience, but I’m sure all the cars fighting for a place in the countdown will be even tougher in these last three races than they have been.”

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2010 NHRA Full Throttle Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon enters the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Northwest Nationals in fourth place in the NHRA Full Throttle Top Fuel point standings. He trails third-place Antron Brown by 24 points and leads fifth-place Tony Schumacher by 16 points. With his first-round win last weekend in Sonoma, Calif., Dixon qualified for the Countdown to 1 NHRA Playoffs.

Dixon has advanced to at least the semifinals at seven of the 13 races this season including four of the last six. He has one win in three final-round appearances and four semifinals this season. Last week in Sonoma, Dixon was the No. 5 qualifier; he defeated Morgan Lucas and Terry McMillan before losing to Tony Schumacher in the semifinals.

Larry Dixon, Al-Anabi Racing Dragster

Photo by: Michael C. Johnson

Dixon prior to Seattle:
“Our points position is probably very reflective of the type of year we’ve had. We’ve gone rounds, but there are cars that have done better than our Al-Anabi team; that shows up in the points. Del’s won the most, and he’s in first. For the most part, the teams that have won the most races are the highest in points. The good thing about it is we’re all bunched up so tightly that it’ll only take one or two good races to jump up to second place. For the silver Al-Anabi team, that’s how we’re looking at it. We have three races left before the countdown starts, and we’re gonna do our best to improve our points position.

“It’s great to have qualified for the Countdown, but we have a great team so I never considered that we wouldn’t make it. What matters now is where we’re seeded. The perfect world would be entering the countdown No. 1, then everyone’s chasing you and you have a round and a half points lead starting the playoffs. We’re going to do everything we can to be seeded as high as we can. Right now, the most important thing is Seattle, and that’s really all I’m worried about.”

By: al-amabi racing team