Worsham isn't kidding himself anymore about the intensity of the Funny Car championship chase. "I thought in 2001 it couldn't be any more competition than that. Then I thought that in 2002 and 2003. Little did I know it was just beginning," he said. "It's going to be a very, very, very tough year. Seriously, at several races, cars that deserve to qualify probably won't be racing on Sunday. Just qualifying for all 23 races this year is going to be tough."

The Newport Beach, Calif., driver said he feels "more so than ever" this could be his year to win. "We're messing around with this new engine combination, and it looks like it's coming around."

He said what it's going to take is a faster racecar. "We've done about all we can do for as fast as our car was. We've always been missing about 4- or 5-hundredths, so if we can get that 4- or 5-hundredths out of it and still maintain consistency it'll be enough."

He said he has wanted to be Funny Car champion. "Since 1975, since I was five years old. That's all I ever wanted. So hopefully in the near future we'll be able to pull this off," Worsham said.

Worsham's 4.926-second run Saturday was his quickest of the weekend.

While two-time and reigning Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon was wrapping up nine days of testing the Miller Lite Dragster in Baytown, Texas, his Funny Car teammates, Ron Capps and Tommy Johnson Jr., were in Las Vegas, biding time until their new Monte Carlo bodies arrived and struggled with some traction problems.

Johnson said he has been in experimental mode since last September. "From Indianapolis on last year, we did nothing but experiment," he said. "We sacrificed a couple of spots in the points, but we learned some things we want to do and some things we don't."

Best for him, he said, is being familiar with his crew. "On the blue Skoal team, we're not changing too much. I've been here for three years, and we've had three different teams, equipment, everything. This year, for the first time, I'll have the same crew chief [Mike Green]. It's nice to have continuity. That's why John Force is so good: the same guys have been there on his crew for years. We're going to stick with something and build it."

Capps has a new crew chief in John Stewart but indicated the transition is relatively seamless. Capps scored the best reaction-time average of all returning Funny Car drivers in 2003 (.059 with no red-light disqualifications in 42 passes). Capps said he has confidence in Stewart's clutch expertise. "Most crew chiefs can make horsepower, but John is one of the better guys when it comes to clutch systems. And the clutch department is so crucial."

Capps said, "I feel motivated to beat John Force Racing." Added Johnson, "There's no reason that we shouldn't be among the top two or three or four cars."

Chicago-area native Dale Creasy, who lost the Sears Craftsman sponsorship for his Pontiac Firebird Funny Car after the 2003 season, was in Las Vegas. He said he is working on securing new funding and said he plans to run at the Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla., in March and has some match races lined up.