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For Immediate Release
Contact: Joe Sherk, jlsherk@aol.com/360-981-4806, mobile
IT’S REBOUND TIME FOR STEVE TORRENCE’S TOP FUEL TEAM
March 11, 2013 -- So what does a Top Fuel driver do when he quite unexpectedly finds himself with nothing to do on a Sunday afternoon in Phoenix and his rivals are working?
That was Steve Torrence’s dilemma a few weeks ago when he experienced one of drag racing’s most detested results – not qualifying for a race.
For the first time in this team’s first 25 races, the second-year Torrence Racing/Capco Contractors Inc. Top Fuel team could not produce a solid qualifying run in four attempts, including one lap that was slowed by a broken throttle cable.
“Richard (Hogan, crew chief) and I talked about what happened and knew we needed to test on Monday after the race,” Torrence commented. “As it turned out, it was a very good decision.”
There are hundreds of things that can go wrong on a 1,000-foot lap with these temperamental 8,000-horsepower land rockets, and Torrence and Hogan believe they were able to isolate those troubled areas during the additional test runs.
“We found some things that were wrong and made corrections during the test session,” Torrence reported. “The car definitely responded to the new tune-up.”
The setback did put him in 14th place in NHRA Mello Yello point standings, but there’s no reason to panic. The Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals, March 15-17 in Gainesville, Fla., is just the third of 24 series events.
Torrence’s family-backed one-car team proved in 2012 that it could win races and contend for the series title. He won three times (Atlanta, Englishtown, N.J. and Seattle) in five championship rounds and was ninth in the final standings. It was the only solo-car team to place in the top 10.
“It was a very, very disappointing weekend in Phoenix,” he concluded, “but our team is excited and ready to move on to Gainesville. We want to come back strong.
“We definitely need to put on a good show there.”
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