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

Steve Torrence goes to semifinals in good outing at Phoenix

There’s no truth to the rumor that Steve Torrence is thinking about calling Firebird Raceway in Chandler, Ariz., his “home” track. 

No, the resident of Kilgore, Texas isn’t about to forsake his hometown, but, after his improbable performance this weekend, the only way he could sum it up was: “I went from the hospital to the semifinals.” 

His impressive showing Sunday included a visit to the Arizona Nationals semifinals in only the second race for the Torrence Racing/Capco Contractors Inc. Top Fuel team.

After qualifying 13th for the second straight race, Torrence believed there was an opportunity to improve, and he did just that.  He defeated a tire-smoking Troy Buff in the opening round (3.976 at 300.06 to 15.482 at 26.76) and came back in the quarterfinals to get the starting line jump against Brandon Bernstein (3.983 at 297.42 to 7.892 at 96.56) and take another step forward.   

His competitive day was ended in a close race against eventual race winner Larry Dixon (4.066 at 276.52 to 4.076 at 296.11).  The winning margin was about three feet.

“The tires rattled at about 300 feet (down the track),” Torrence said of his match against Dixon, “and started to smoke.  I pedaled (the throttle) but he got the win. 

“All-in-all, it was a good weekend,” he continued.  “Everybody on our team worked hard and it was an exceptional weekend because I was sick and was able to feel better and come back to qualify for the race.”

When he arrived, Torrence had a virus and was dehydrated.  He was treated Friday and missed the first two qualifying sessions.  He came back to put his dragster into the 13th starting position for the race.

“The car is running really well and we’ll be heading for Las Vegas for the next race (Oct. 28-30),” Torrence concluded.  

 

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