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For Immediate Release
Contact: Joe Sherk, jlsherk@aol.com/360-981-4806, mobile

 

TORRENCE TAKES ON BRANDON BERNSTEIN IN ARIZONA OPENER

February 18, 2012 -- What a difference a day makes aptly applied to the qualifying efforts of Top Fuel driver Steve Torrence Saturday in the Arizona Nationals at Firebird Raceway.

“We went from going good in qualifying to not going good in qualifying,” Torrence said with a smile
when the day’s action concluded. 

It was fortunate he produced his career best elapsed time and fastest speed on Friday, and the 3.788
second, 321.21 mph feat put him solidly into the No. 3 starting slot.  He didn’t come close to repeating that effort on either of his last two attempts.

“Richard (Hogan, crew chief) and I felt confident the 3.788 would keep us high in the field for the race,” said Torrence.  “He wanted to try some different parts.”

No one ran better than the 3.788 on Saturday and Torrence opens Sunday’s eliminations against Brandon Bernstein (No. 14, 3.871 at 309.84 mph).

On his first 1000-foot effort, an injector adjustment vibrated loose on the Torrence Racing/Capco Contractors Inc. dragster, forcing them to abort the run.  A rare case of tire smoke a half-track concluded qualifying.

“We’ll put everything together like it was for our good run and be ready to go on Sunday,” added Torrence.

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