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

Steve Torrence wants new dragster to keep improving at Phoenix

One race into his new career as a Top Fuel team owner, Steve Torrence is looking forward to Friday when he can again climb into the Torrence Racing/Capco Contractors Inc. dragster and mash the throttle.

Torrence, who sat out four months and 11 races while assembling the team that debuted at
Dallas, near his Kilgore, Texas home nearly three weeks ago, will be seeking a starting berth in the Arizona Nationals that begins a three-day run at Firebird Raceway near Phoenix.

“We did okay and the race car ran well,” he said of his first outing.  “We went down the track on all five of our runs and we were pleased with what we accomplished.  We didn’t expect that kind of consistency because we are a new team . . . and we are working hard to figure things out.”

The quickest of his five 1,000-foot runs – 3.999 seconds at 301.67 mph – came on his first qualifying lap and he produced a 4.004 at 305.22 mph in his first-round elimination loss.

While other drivers are concentrating on earning NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship points,   Torrence is strictly concerned with “getting our stuff running the best we can,” he pointed out.  “We are using the last three races this year to get our racing combination ready for next year.

“I’m excited to be racing at Phoenix.  I went to the semifinals there last year (while driving Dexter Tuttle’s dragster).  Maybe we can sneak up on the tune-up and go a round or two on Sunday.”

The Indianapolis-based crew will stay on the road for the season’s final two races at Las Vegas (Oct. 28-30) and Pomona, Calif. (Nov. 10-13).

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