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

GREAT RUN PUTS STEVE TORRENCE INTO NO. 3 QUALIFYING BERTH

February 17, 2012 -- Steve Torrence jumped into the qualifying spotlight Friday as qualifying began for Sunday’s Arizona Nationals.  And he did so in an impressive way with a career-best Top Fuel run of 3.788 seconds at 321.19 mph.

“That was a great run!” he said after his first sub-3.8-second time put him into the provisional No. 3 starting position at Firebird Raceway.  This is only the fifth race for the Torrence Racing/Capco Contractors Inc. team.  It comes five days after the season-opening event at Pomona, Calif.

“I saw Richard (Hogan, crew chief) get out his computer and make tuning changes while we were waiting to make the last run,” he continued. “I knew the car was going to either go or lose traction.

“I’m really proud of the team. We’ve been sneaking up on the combination . . . and that run is what we needed. At halftrack, I knew the car was really hauling and I was ecstatic to see the 3.788.  We are really excited about it.”

He was briefly on top of the standings before Shawn Langdon (3.754 at 323.12 mph) took the lead and was followed by Tony Schumacher’s 3.783 at 324.44.

“That gives us good start for Sunday,” Torrence said.  “We want to redeem ourselves after losing in the first round last weekend and we’re definitely going in the right direction.  Everyone is working together and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

There could be more good things in store.  Two more qualifying runs are on Saturday’s schedule to set the starting lineup. 

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