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

 

STEVE TORRENCE OPTIMISTIC GOING INTO U.S. NATIONALS

It wasn’t the enthusiasm of a first-year Top Fuel team owner that prompted Steve Torrence to say six months ago that he felt the Torrence Racing/Capco Contractors Inc. team was capable of finishing in the top five this year.

He had confidence in crew chief Richard Hogan and his crew, and they have worked together to forge what has become not only a solid top-five entry, but one that now is a serious championship contender. 

Can a single-car Top Fuel team find happiness among a field of multi-car teams?  It was a question Torrence asked -- and answered unequivocally – with strong performances during the ensuing 16 races that have carried him to fourth place in Full Throttle Series standings.

He won his first Top Fuel title at Atlanta in May and added victories at Englishtown, N.J. and Seattle to go along with two runners-up.   The five final rounds so far this year put him in elite company with seven-time champion Tony Schumacher (5 finals).  Only Antron Brown (8) and Spencer Massey (6) have more.

Those results set the stage for what Torrence hopes to will be a stellar performance in this weekend’s  58th running of NHRA’s revered Mac Tools U.S. Nationals – the sports oldest race – Friday through Monday at Lucas Oil Raceway. 

It is the final event before the Countdown to One begins and it sets the 10-driver lineups for NHRA’s exciting six-race drive to the championship, which Torrence hopes to begin in the top three.

“I am really pleased with the progress we’ve made in a short time,” Torrence said of his Brownsburg, Ind.-based team.  “Everyone has been working hard.  I didn’t expect us to be contenders this soon.

“This is our biggest race of the year and I’m looking forward to it. Everybody wants to win at Indy,” he continued.  “I won the Top Alcohol championship there in 2005.  That was a great feeling . . . and I would like to win in the fuel car and get that great feeling again.”

Torrence also has an opportunity to pick up an additional $100,000 on Saturday in the Traxxas Top Fuel Nitro Shootout – a new eight-driver battle that carries that big winner’s check.  The runner-up receives $15,000 and the semifinal losers earn $7,500.

“This is going to be a very interesting weekend,” he remarked.  “It’s not often we have an opportunity to win two races in one weekend – especially one that comes with a $100,000 check.  The Shootout should be fun.  We hope it’s rewarding.  I thank Traxxas for creating the event.”

Torrence used last week’s pre-Indy test session to make some 1,000-foot laps and Hogan was able to use the data to make some tuning adjustments.  “The car ran well and Richard was pleased with the results,” he commented.

“I know I will have a car that can win the race,” Torrence concluded.  “We will make the most of our five qualifying runs, and then we’ll concentrate on winning that U.S. Nationals Wally on Monday.”

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