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TORRENCE NO. 1 AGAIN AT DENSO NATIONALS
Texan Tries to Duplicate Fall Victory at The Strip at LVMS

April 1, 2017 -- After struggling with consistency in the season’s first three races, Texan Steve Torrence used the qualifying phase of the 18th annual Denso Spark Plug Nationals to demonstrate once again why his Capco Contractors Top Fuel dragster is one of the most feared race cars on the planet.

The 33-year-old cancer survivor raced down the 1,000 foot course at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 3.720 seconds at 327.03 miles per hour on Friday, a performance that sends him into Sunday eliminations as the No. 1 qualifier for the second straight season.

He will race unopposed on the first round due to a short field.  That will extend to five the number of consecutive rounds he has won at LVMS where he was the Top Fuel champion at last fall’s Toyota Nationals.

In addition to his 3.720 on Friday, Torrence also was quickest on Saturday at 3.749 seconds with a finish line speed of 327.35 mph.  He earned a category best eight qualifying bonus points.

“We came here and won in the fall and have run well pretty much every time we've been here,” Torrence said of The Strip.  “We had a lot of data coming in, but we (have) struggled with consistency. 

“We came out of the box trying some stuff and it worked.  We're happy with the outcome." 

Not only is this his 14th career No. 1 and his category-best ninth over the last two seasons, it also will be the 36th consecutive time he has started a Mello Yello tour event with the lane choice option, the result of qualifying among the quick eight.

“It’s a great start but the trick is to turn what you did in qualifying into something you can use on race day,” said the eight-time NHRA tour winner.  “We did this same thing last spring and wound up getting whupped in the first round.  It’s crazy competitive out here right now.”

 

 

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