Wed, 23 Sep 2009, 09:04 AM Alan Johnson Al-Anabi Racing Dallas Preview

Courtesy of Rob Goodman

ENNIS, Tex. -- Del Worsham, Toyota Solara Funny Car:
Del Worsham is in ninth place in the NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car point standings; he trails eighth place by 17 points and first place by 95 points after last week's NHRA Carolinas Nationals. Worsham is making his first appearance in the Countdown to 1 NHRA Playoffs.

Last week in Charlotte, Worsham qualified ninth and lost to Jack Beckman in the first round of eliminations when a faulty burst panel caused a mechanical failure. Worsham was unable to complete the run. He has two wins this season; he visited victory circle in Madison, Ill. and Bristol, Tenn.

After losing in the first round, Worsham participated in NHRA's four-lane, four-wide exhibition run. It marked the first time in NHRA history that modern Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars raced four lanes at the same time. The other participating Funny Car drivers were Mike Neff, John Force and Tim Wilkerson.

One year ago at Texas Motorplex, Worsham was the No. 3 qualifier but lost to Bob Tasca in the first round of eliminations. Worsham won races at Texas Motorplex in 2002 and '04.

Worsham has 24 wins in his Funny Car career; he is seventh on the NHRA's all-time Funny Car wins list trailing sixth place by just two wins.

Worsham prior to Dallas:
"I feel really good about our car. We had a faulty part in the first round at Charlotte, but that's as good a race car as I've had since we started this team. We went down the track each time without smoking the tires. It didn't smoke the tires when the burst panel failed, and it even went down the track with a 4.20 in a brand new lane. We were the first nitro car ever in that lane, and it still ran a 4.20.

"From a driver's standpoint, aside from the staging, the four-wide exhibition wasn't all that different because I was in the far right lane. So I had one car next to me like we always do, but I noticed most of it when all four cars had their parachutes deployed. It was cool to be a part of it, and I'm glad we were. I don't' like the way we got into it by losing in the first round, but it made a bad day as good as it could be.

"Heading into Dallas, my confidence level is as high as it's been a while. I feel as good going into Dallas as I did going into Topeka after winning at St. Louis and Bristol. We've been saying for so long that we needed to find some consistency with this car; well now we have it, and it feels good. Our problems have been part failures on things that shouldn't break so I feel good about where we are."

For additional information on Del Worsham, please visit http://www.alanjohnsonracing.com to view his full bio.

About Alan Johnson Al-Anabi Racing:
Alan Johnson Al-Anabi Racing is a partnership between Alan Johnson and His Highness Sheikh Khalid Bin Hamad Al Thani. The team is a two-car NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Team fielding entries in Top Fuel and Funny Car competition. At the forefront of this partnership is Al Thani's goal to promote the domestic and international awareness of Motorsports in the nation of Qatar. Johnson is an eight-time NHRA Top Fuel Championship crew chief. For additional information on Alan Johnson and the rest of the team, please visit http://www.alanjohnsonracing.com.

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