Torrence's Title Bid Brings Him Home

A race in which he has reached the finals six times in the last nine years, a track on which he lowered the record to 3.636 seconds just a year ago, and a crowd comprised largely of family, friends and fellow Texans could constitute the perfect storm for Steve Torrence and his CAPCO boys this week as they resume their quest for their fifth Top Fuel World Championship in the last seven years.

Currently occupying the No. 5 position in the Mission Foods driver standings, the 41-year-old Torrence is well aware of his need to gain ground in this week’s 39th Texas Fall Nationals, the centerpiece of the 10-day Stampede of Speed at the Texas Motorplex, the all-concrete track he calls home.

“We’ve dug ourselves a pretty good hole,” he said of the 88 points by which he trails current leader Antron Brown, “but we’re coming off a good race at St. Louis (runner-up to Tony Schumacher) and the big thing, for me, is that these CAPCO boys have been here before.

“(The pressure of the playoffs) is nothing new to them but it’s always good to come back home,” said the 55-time tour winner, the only driver ever to have swept the races in the NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship (2018).  “We’ll have a lot of friends and a lot of support from our extended family at CAPCO.”

In addition, he’ll have the support of a CAPCO wingman who is equally comfortable at the Motorplex.  Dad Billy won the Texas Fall Nationals in 2019, was runner-up to his son the following year and last fall lost an all-CAPCO, all-Toyota, all-Torrence semifinal by a scant .009 of a second.

Not that he really needs further motivation, but the younger Torrence also is anxious to put last year’s narrow, .007 of a second final round loss to Leah Pruett far behind him in an event in which he has compiled a 22-7 elimination record since 2014.  

“The opportunity’s there,” said the former Top Alcohol Dragster World Champion (2005).  “We just have to do the job.”

A member of drag racing’s 500 Club, reserved for pro drivers who have won at least that many competitive rounds, Torrence celebrated Fall Nationals victories in 2018 and 2020 and has started from either the No. 1 or No. 2 qualifying position five of the last seven years.

The feature event begins with two rounds of nitro qualifying on Friday, the first at 5:15 p.m. and the second, under the lights, at 8 p.m. with a $15,000 Motorplex cash bonus to the driver putting up the best numbers.   

Pro qualifying continues with sessions at 1 and 4 p.m. Saturday that will establish the starting lineups and first round pairings for single elimination finals on Sunday beginning at 12 noon.