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

Steve Torrence pleased with Top Fuel team’s first race

There were no round wins for Steve Torrence and the new Torrence Racing/Capco Contractors Inc. Top Fuel team Sunday at the Texas Motorplex, but they left the AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals with a feeling of satisfaction.

And they weathered several tense moments at the starting line with the aplomb of a team that has been together more than just one race. 

“We had a problem starting the car for the first round,” Torrence said of his race against Brandon Bernstein, “but the guys didn’t lose their composure and they got me up there in time.”

He made a short burnout because he was late getting to the starting line.  None of Torrence’s crew appeared flustered as they completed their duties and sent him into action.

Torrence hammered the throttle and the dragster bolted down the track, stopping the timer at 4.004 seconds at 305.22 mph to Bernstein’s winning 3.900 at 315.49.

“We had that problem starting the car initially, but I was pleased with our overall performance,” Torrence commented.  “We are a new team and it’s just going to take time for us to figure everything out.  We had no data to go on whatsoever. 

“I think it was a very productive weekend.  We got the car out and the team worked together very well, and I was okay in the car.  I was struggling with my lights a little bit, but I think that has a lot to do with the changes we made in the bell housing. I had my best light in the first round so we’ll go from there.”

His quickest run of the weekend was 3.999 seconds, which, ironically, came Friday on his initial 1,000-foot run in the new dragster. 

“We made five runs,” Torrence added, “but they were 3.9 and 4.09 (second) runs, which are not good runs.  We did go consistently down the race track without smoking the tires or shaking – and that says a lot in itself – and we did get a lot of data.

“All in all, I was very satisfied with the weekend.  I do think, as a new team, we made a good impression amongst our peers for what we were able to accomplish in such a short time.  I believe that we served notice that we’re here and we should be a decent running, fairly competitive team that will fit into the mix.”

The team, which plans to run four races this season, will be in action again at Phoenix, Oct. 14-16.

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