Del Worsham won the NHRA Virginia Nationals near Richmond on Oct. 11. He was the No. 14 qualifier defeating Matt Hagan, Jeff Arend, Ron Capps and Tim Wilkerson on his way to victory. The win comes in Worsham's fifth race with new crew chief Dickie Venables, who started with the team at the U.S. Nationals on Labor Day weekend. Worsham has two other wins this season; he visited victory circle in Madison, Ill. and Bristol, Tenn.

Worsham is in eighth place in the NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car point standings; he trails seventh place by 32 points and first place by 135 points after the fourth race in the Countdown to 1 NHRA Playoffs. Worsham is making his first appearance in NHRA Playoffs.

One year ago at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Worsham did not qualify for eliminations. Earlier this season at Las Vegas, he was the No. 16 qualifier and lost to Tony Pedregon in the first round of eliminations; he has never won at the Las Vegas track.

Worsham has 25 wins in his Funny Car career; he is seventh on the NHRA's all-time Funny Car wins list trailing sixth place by just one win.

Worsham prior to Las Vegas:
"What a difference a day makes; we needed that Richmond win! The way our team performed on Sunday at Richmond was exactly what I expected after Dickie and Kurt joined our team. I am definitely going to Las Vegas with way more confidence than we had going into Richmond, but we also know how fast things can change. It was nice to go out there and win the race. We hired Dickie to join our team and make great decisions on race day and that's exactly what happened.

"We've won another race, but that doesn't get us back into championship contention. It means we can finish the season on a respectable note and that we didn't put the car in test mode and start working for next year. We are still focused on getting the best finish we can possibly get for our race team, His Highness Sheik Khalid Al Thani and the entire Al-Anabi race team. We have two more races and two more chances to win. We all hope we can pick up right where we left off at Richmond."

For additional information on Alan Johnson and Del Worsham, please visit http://www.alanjohnsonracing.com

About Al-Anabi Racing:
Al-Anabi Racing operates out of multiple locations in both the United States and Qatar. In the United States, the Brownsburg, Ind.-based operation is a two-car NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Team fielding entries in Top Fuel and Funny Car competition. At the forefront of this team is His Highness Sheik Khalid Al Thani's goal to promote the domestic and international awareness of Motorsports in the nation of Qatar. Alan Johnson is an eight-time NHRA Top Fuel Championship crew chief.

Courtesy of Rob Goodman