Del Worsham, driver of the DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car, continued his amazing start to the NHRA’s Countdown for the Championship as he picked up his second victory in the row growing his championship points advantage. Worsham earned his first back-to-back win in Funny Car since 2009.

Worsham started his outstanding weekend in qualifying. He picked up bonus points in each session with nine overall. Worsham reset his career best elapsed time and MPH records multiple times and became just the third driver to dip into the 3.8-second bracket in the Funny Car ranks with a 3.899 second pass. That run combined with his earlier 3.935 second run gave Worsham the national record and the potential to gain 20 points on Sunday.
Up first was two-time champion Tony Pedregon. Worsham’s crew chiefs, Jon Oberhofer and Nicky Boninfante, were not taking him lightly. Worsham ran low of the entire session, 3.945 seconds, to move on and face fellow countdown contender Tim Wilkerson.
In what was the best race of the entire Funny Car ranks in the second session, Worsham again had to run the best number of the entire session to defeat Wilkerson. He was stellar on the tree with the best light among all drivers with a .037 and drove the DHL Toyota Camry straight down the track at 3.956 seconds.
Tony’s brother and fellow two-time champion Cruz Pedregon was next up in the semi-finals. Again, Worsham ran straight down the Gateway Motorsports Park surface to move to the final round with the best pass of the round once again.

With his final round appearance, Worsham set two records. It was the first time in Kalitta Motorsports history that the DHL Toyota Camry had made it to back-to-back final rounds. With Worsham’s sixth consecutive three-second run, he broke Jack Beckman’s run of five in Topeka.
However, Worsham wanted another round win. The finals would be against reigning champion and the man currently chasing Worsham in the standings: Matt Hagan. Hagan and Worsham left together but at the finish line Worsham was ahead ,claiming his second victory in a row and the 20 point bonus for the national record.
With the win, he became the first driver to run four three second runs in one day and the first to run seven for the event. He also became the fourth driver ever to claim the Top Fuel and Funny Car national record. The others are Kenny Bernstein, Marc Oswald and Danny Ongais.
“In my 25 years of racing, I do not think I have ever run a car that this is predictable,” said Worsham. “The team I have works so hard, and Connie Kalitta provides everything that we need to run well. I am so happy for Connie, and thankful for this entire DHL Toyota Camry team.”
With the win and the national record bonus, Worsham moves to a five round advantage ahead of Matt Hagan with four races remaining.

Event Essentials:   NHRA AAA Insurance Midwest Nationals  (Sept. 25-27th, 2015) 

Racing the Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger – Matt Hagan broke the 330 mph barrier for Funny Cars!

Posted with files from Cody Poor and Bruce Biegler

Photos Courtesy of NHRA & Auto Imagery