For most of the 2011 season, Del Worsham’s dogged two-decades-long pursuit of an NHRA championship, one that included more than 30 wins and five Top-5 finishes, seemed to be right on track.

And then it didn’t. What was shaping up to be a great ending to a storybook career went terribly sideways at the start of the Countdown. Leading in the points all year, he lost his way and was as low as fourth place with two races to go.

With no margin for error, and matched up against one of the best leavers in the sport (Spencer Massey), Worsham came through in the most clutch way to possible to finish the year with back-to-back wins to earn his first NHRA Full Throttle Series championship. The seemingly scripted finish was the 2011 Fan Choice Awards “Story of the Year.”

Regarding Worsham’s margin for error, consider that he defeated runner-up Massey by one-thousandth of a second in the final-round at the penultimate race, the Big O Tires NHRA Nationals, and by four-thousandths of a second in the semifinals at the season’s final race, the Auto Club NHRA Finals. If either of those results was reversed, Massey would have been the 2011 champion.

When you think about it, it’s truly an amazing thing to digest. By a mere five-thousandths of a second, the combined margin of victory of those two races, his fate – as well as that of his opponent (Massey) was determined.

For Worsham, the win put a bow on his decorated career with the one thing that had eluded him – an NHRA Full Throttle Series championship – while Massey was, by the thinnest of margins, left to start the climb all over again.

Adding to the drama of that moment was the fact that one of NHRA’s most popular and well-regarded drivers proceeded to announce his retirement from racing at the conclusion of the season.

Worsham was, from the start of the season, best-in-class. He reached the final round at 11 of 22 races – winning eight times – and he earned seven No. 1 qualifiers.

Tomorrow we will unveil the Moment of the Year. There were six nominees including Matt Hagan breaking the four-second barrier, Bob Vandergriff’s celebration “lap” at the Texas Motorplex, and Del Worsham and Matt Hagan’s championship-clinching passes.