>>BACK

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

 

TORRENCE WANTS POSITIVE START TO WESTERN SWING

July 18, 2013 --A week without racing is about all Steve Torrence needed before he shifted his focus back to the business at hand – making the Mello Yello championship playoffs.

“I am looking forward to racing in Denver,” he said.  “We had a good week off and now we are ready to kick off the Western Swing this weekend.”

The traditional three-race Swing begins Friday with the 34th Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colo., near Denver.  It goes to Sonoma, Calif., July 26-28, and ends Aug. 2-4 in Seattle where Torrence is the defending Top Fuel champion.

“We know what we need to do at all three races to really make sure we finish in the top 10, and that is go rounds and maybe win a race or two,” continued Torrence, who currently sits in a ninth-place tie with Bob Vandergriff at 605 points.

Built into a mountain more than a mile-high, Bandimere Speedway provides spectacular views of the surrounding area. That altitude, however, comes with one major problem for every crew chief and tuner. 

The lack of oxygen calls for multiple tune-up alterations on the Torrence Racing/Capco Contractors Inc. Top Fuel dragster to make it competitive.

“There are definitely challenges racing at Bandimere,” said team crew chief Lee Beard.
Beard is a Denver-area native who began his racing career there and went on to become one of the most successful Top Fuel and Funny Car tuners.

“The tune-ups are not like the ones at sea level,” he continued, “and we only use them once a year.  Everything is different.”

Elapsed times are markedly slower.  For example, the Bandimere Top Fuel track record is 3.862 seconds and 318.39 mph, and NHRA’s national record is 3.701 and 332.28.

“One of the first things I noticed about racing up there is the car usually just feels a little sluggish,” Torrence commented.  He advanced to the semifinals in last year’s Mile-High event and won one round in 2010.

“Lee has had some experience tuning at Bandimere and I believe he will have a good tune-up in our car this weekend.”

# # #

 

download release as .doc file