>>BACK

For Immediate Release
Contact: Dave Densmore, denswood@aol.com / 214-244-0008, mobile

 

TORRENCE VICTIMIZED BY PUSHROD FAILURE
Qualifying Promise Turns to Race Day Pain for Capco Contractors Team

           May 25, 2014 -- It wasn’t a faster car that beat Steve Torrence in Sunday’s 26th annual NHRA Kansas Nationals Heartland Park-Topeka.  Instead, it was a broken pushrod that shoved the blower panels out thereby activating the mandatory safety system that shuts off the fuel and the magneto and deploys the parachutes.

            “When that happens, there’s nothing you can do,” said the frustrated 31-year-old whose Capco Contractors Top Fuel dragster exited before the semifinal round for only the second time this year.

            Indeed, after the safety system was activated, Torrence was just along for the ride as first round opponent Terry McMillen got what amounted to a free pass.  Torrence’s car never crossed the finish line, stopping on the track where it was retrieved by crewmembers.

            “It’s disappointing because we’ve got one helluva race car,” Torrence said, “but it’s part of the game.  It’s not a fun part but you race these cars as hard as we do, it puts a strain on everything and this is what happens sometimes.  I guess the good thing is we don’t have a lot of time to think about it.

            “We go right back to work this week (at Englishtown, N.J.) on a track where we’ve won before, so our expectations are still pretty high.”

            The timing of this particular failure couldn’t have been much worse.  Because he went out in the first round, Torrence slipped from third place in Mello Yello points, the position he has occupied for most the season, to fifth.

            The only good news is that the No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 drivers are separated by little more than one competitive round.

            Ironically, until the first round, Torrence had little reason to believe his impressive streak of semifinal appearances was in jeopardy.

            The former Top Alcohol Dragster World Champion (2005) made solid runs in all three completed qualifying sessions and wound up No. 4 in the order at 3.767 seconds, 327.98 miles per hour. 

 

# # #