By Mike Haag, Raceday San Antonio
ENNIS – The battle for the coveted NHRA Top Fuel championship is expected to intensify this weekend between Steve Torrence and Brittany Force when the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series rolls into town for the Stampede of Speed NHRA Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex.
With four races remaining in the Countdown to the Championship, all eyes will be on Torrence and Force as the two rivals continue their season-long battle for the Top Fuel championship.
Torrence, who is a 38-year old Kilgore, Texas native and the driver of the Capco Contractors dragster, enters this weekend’s race with a 36-point lead in the Countdown to the Championship standings over Force, the 2017 Top Fuel champion and driver of the Monster Energy dragster. Billy Torrence, Steve’s father, is 90 points back in third followed by Mike Salinas in fourth and Justin Ashley in fifth. Rounding out the top 10 are Leah Pruett, Antron Brown, Shawn Langdon, Clay Millican and Doug Kalitta.
The three-time NHRA Top Fuel champion is on a mission to become just the seventh driver in NHRA drag racing history to win four consecutive series championships. A victory by Torrence on Sunday at the 36th annual Texas Fall Nationals would be his 50th career win in Top Fuel.
“We’re just trying to win the Fall Nationals,” Torrence said. “These Capco Boys are the best in the business and if I win one or 50 or 100 races, it’s not because of anything I’ve done. I just drive the best race car out there. That’s it. To me, 49 wins means that’s 49 times I didn’t screw up, because a lot of times I do.”
Torrence has won nine of the 16 races held so far this season. He has a 46-7 over round win-loss record this year with one runner-up finish and four semi final finishes.
While all of the attention appears to be on Torrence this season, the idea of Force winning the Top Fuel championship cannot be ruled out.
Force enters this weekend’s race in the Monster Energy / Flav-R-Pac dragster, a car that has been dominant in qualifying and on the track this season. Led by team members David Grubnic and Mac Savage, Force has scored 10 No. 1 qualifiers this year.
At the last Countdown to the Championship Playoff race in St. Louis, Force recorded the third quickest run in Top Fuel history at 3.641-seconds and a track record speed of 337.66 mph to defeat TJ Zizzo, who crossed the line in 4.921 at 144.29 mph.
“We’re in a great place sitting No. 2 in points,” Force said. “This Monster Energy / Flav-R-Pac team is looking forward to putting the last couple weekends behind us and getting right into the race this weekend. I’ve struggled a little on my end but I’m looking to bounce back this weekend with a win at Dallas.”
Force’s lone victory this season was at Heartland Motorsports Park in Topeka, Kan., where for the first time in history she shared the podium with her father John Force, the winner of the Nitro Funny Car class. She has been to the finals five times this season, most recently finishing as the runner-up at the Carolina Nationals.
“This Monster Energy / Flav-R-Pac team is looking forward to this weekend’s FallNationals in Dallas,” Force said. “This event is going to be a big one. We have the opportunity to test beforehand, hang out with fans at the fan fest on Thursday and we get four qualifying runs before going into race day. I’ve won here before and I’m looking forward to doing it again.”
Force has had great success at the Texas Motorplex. In seven years of competition here she has qualified fifth or better for five consecutive years. She won in 2017, qualified No. 1 in 2019 and also lowered the ET record to 3.651 seconds.
Torrence and Force will kick off their battle on Friday during qualifying at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. when the Texas Motorplex plays host to the “Stampede of Speed” Texas NHRA FallNationals. Qualifying continues Saturday at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Eliminations are set for Sunday at 11 a.m.
