WORSHAM WAITS OUT A 14th SPOT AFTER DAY ONE

Del Worsham expertly pedaled his car out of tire shake during session No. 1 in Topeka, legging it to the other end in 5.176-seconds to land 14th after that first lap. From that point forward, the pro teams could only wait and speculate, as bad weather danced all over the area but little of it found its way to Heartland Park. Finally, after 10:00 pm, the weather, the dew point, and the clock conspired to bring an end to the action.

Two additional sessions are set for Saturday.

"Well, I'd pretty much have to call that a marathon," Worsham said. "We had a photo shoot at 10:00 this morning, so you're looking at about a 14-hour day when you factor in being out here a little early to get ready for the photo shoot and then bringing the car back to the pit after it started drizzling. We were watching radar all day, and it's amazing how lucky we were to get one run in.

"Now, a tiny part of me is kind of glad we'll just have the two Saturday runs under what should be very similar conditions, because it takes the night run out of the equation. The Friday night runs are always big 'hero sessions' anyway, but this one might have been over the top. Yes, we might have gone out there and run 4.72 or something, but if any little freak thing goes wrong, you could find yourself in a hole you can't climb out of on Saturday. The way it is, we'll all have the same two shots at the track tomorrow."