Torrence in Rare Early Exit at Indy

Four-time Top Fuel World Champion Steve Torrence was victimized by the luck of the draw Monday at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park where he dropped a narrow decision to a highly-motivated Tony Stewart in the opening round of the 71st annual NHRA U.S. Nationals, an event in which he and his CAPCO Contractors Toyota had raced for the championship three of the last four years.

With his eye on a regular season championship, one he ultimately won, Stewart coupled an .052 reaction time to his quickest run of the weekend (3.716 seconds, .028 of a second quicker than his qualifying time) and beat Torrence to the finish line by half a tenth of a second.  

“That was a tough one,” Torrence said.  “We had a chance to gain some ground before the Countdown and we just didn’t get it done.

“That’s a good team over there,” said the 56-time tour winner.  “Tony and me, we’ve got a pretty good rivalry going.  I think that evens us up at 3-3, but it hurts a little more when it’s Indy.  We beat him here last year; he beat us today.”

Torrence, who had raced in the Indy final seven of the last 12 years with wins in 2017 and 2021, finished ninth in regular season points despite opting out of four of the 13 events preceding the U.S. Nationals including the Muckleshoot Casino Northwest Nationals at Seattle, Wash., in which he was the two-time defending champion.

“We’ll just get ready for Reading (the NHRA Reading Nationals, first of six playoff races to decide the championship) and see what happens,” said the owner of the longest active winning streak in the sport’s signature category (11 straight years with at least one tour victory).

“We’re starting a long way back but with the points adjusted, anything’s possible,” said the 42-year-old Texan.  “It all comes down to who finds their A-Game and brings it to the Countdown.  Me and these CAPCO boys are gonna try to find ours.  Maybe we can hurt some feelings in the playoffs.”