INDIANAPOLIS — Del Worsham hadn’t raced on a regular basis in recent years and spent much of that time as a crew chief for other drivers.
But Worsham got back in the seat last season when IHRA revived its Nitro Series under the direction of new owner Darryl Cuttell.
Worsham plans to race the full schedule in 2026.
“I’m really excited. I went into last year not really knowing what I was going to do,” Worsham explained Saturday at the PRI Trade Show. “When Darryl announced IHRA was bringing back the nitro Funny Car division, I looked at my wife and I said this is something I can get behind and I can do. I called Darryl and I had a couple of conversations with him and the next thing I knew we were in Columbus, we were in Milan, we were at Dragway 42 and we finished all five races.”
Not only did he run all five, but he won three of them.
Worsham said it was a no-brainer for him to run the series again this coming season.
“After racing last year, I was really having a great time,” Worsham said. “I was racing with people I knew and people I liked. People that shared the same values and had the same vision that I had. You can go race your car, make a little bit of money, have some fun with the fans. I got to meet a lot of new people and people I had raced with before.”
Worsham said the competition got better and better throughout the season.
“As the year went on, the cars got faster and faster,” Worsham said. “I told everybody with the purses that Darryl is paying and the amount of money people are making, they are not going home and buying jewelry, they are buying better parts and faster cars and every time I showed up for another race, there was another car that was better and was closer to our level of competition. Next year, I suspect it’s going to be very competitive.
“A lot of fast cars are coming. I’ve had tons of racers call me up and ask about it and we’re coming. It is going to be very competitive. There are going to be a lot of Funny Cars and a lot of Top Fuel cars.”
