ENNIS, Texas – Steve Torrence torched the scoreboard with a strong 3.682 second pass clocked at 327.51 mph to grab the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot after two rounds of qualifying on Friday night at the 32nd annual AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals at the Texas Motorplex.
The 34-year old Kilgore, Texas resident and driver of the Capco Contractors / Torrence Racing dragster, enters this weekend’s races with a 42-point lead over Doug Kalitta in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship standings.
“We were very confident coming into here,” said Torrence, who started qualifying by recording a 3.717, 320.74 mph pass in the first session. “If I knew we were going to go 71 on the first lap I would be lying. That one kind of blew me away and I didn’t expect that seeing that because a lot of the cars going down and 76 being low, then 71 was pretty impressive.”
Torrence, who has 16 career NHRA Top Fuel victories, is chasing his first No. 1 qualifier and victory at his home track. A win on Sunday would give him his ninth victory this season.
“Going into tomorrow, and ultimately Sunday, confidence is for sure at t all-time high,” Torrence said. “It’s always good to win at your home track. We’ve just not been able to do it. It’s been elusive. But ultimately, at the end of the day, what we need to do is get points. I’ve said before I think this championship could be decided by just a few points. To win here would be cool but we just need to go rounds and get points however we need to do it.”
NHRA Top Fuel qualifying continues on Saturday beginning at 1:15 p.m. Sunday’s elimination rounds are set for 11 a.m.
Friday’s qualifying rounds also featured impressive runs by Don Schumacher teammates Tony Schumacher and Antron Brown. Schumacher, who is the winningest Top Fuel driver in NHRA history, was second with a 3.692 pass at 327.66 in his U.S. Army dragster. Brown was third fastest and was clocked at 3.696 at 329.91 in his Matco Tools “Tools for the Cause” dragster.
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Interview with Steve Torrence –
