Billy Torrence
Kilgore, TX
April 28, 1958
25
Brainerd
The Original Torrence Racing Wheelman
In his 20s, Torrence started welding pipeline in the oilfields of east Texas and racing whenever possible on one of the many dragstrips that dotted the regional landscape. Racing was an activity he could enjoy with his wife, Kay, and later with their only son, Steve.
After 15 years as a blue collar welder, though, he began to freelance in the oil and gas industry as a project supervisor; still racing whenever he could.
Then, in 1995, he assembled a crew of 12, secured a job site trailer, rented some heavy equipment, opened a small office and founded CAPCO Contractors, Inc., an oil and gas pipeline construction and maintenance business outside Henderson, Texas.
As he upgraded his business, he also upgraded his racing equipment and, in 2002, advanced for the first time to the final round of an NHRA national event (the Mid-South Nationals at Memphis, Tenn.) before losing the Super Comp title to Jeff Strickland, who would go on to be a multiple-time NHRA World Champion.
Today, CAPCO tends to its roster of clients from a 30-acre campus that is home to more than 200 employees. Nevertheless, despite the demands of business, Torrence still is drag racing whenever he can as a teammate to his son, the four-time NHRA Top Fuel Champion.
In fact, after claiming Super Comp titles at Las Vegas in 2011 and Atlanta in 2016, the 65-year-old CAPCO CEO turned things up a notch in 2018 when he won for the first time in Top Fuel, the sport’s ultimate racing category. Not only did he hoist the trophy at Brainerd, Minn., he did so by using a starting line advantage to beat three-time former World Champion Antron Brown in the final round.
Since then, he has added seven more wins at the wheel of the second CAPCO Contractors dragster and has finished in the top five in points three times even though this is the first year he ever has run the full schedule of events.
One of those wins came at the expense of his son, whom he defeated in an historic all-CAPCO final round at the 2019 NHRA Midwest Nationals at St. Louis.
While drag racing is a passion for the entire Torrence family, the race team actually is a business tool used by CAPCO to reward clients and employees and entertain current and future business partners.
“We are a full-service pipeline contractor that can handle nearly anything a customer needs,” Torrence said of CAPCO. “We do a lot of turnkey work that involves everything from engineering projects and right-of-way design to installing and tying-in pipe. After it’s installed, we test it. We’re also doing a lot of rehab work right now, which means excavating existing pipelines and then repairing or replacing them.
“East Texas is rich in natural gas,” he said, “so most of our projects are done for gas companies right in our own backyard although we also maintain master service agreements with many oil companies. They like that we provide a long list of services and that we perform all of them safely.”
Nevertheless, he insists that racing is an integral part of his business success. It always has provided a competitive outlet and is an activity that unites both his immediate and extended families.
“Just to come out here and race with my family, win, lose or draw, that’s just a blessing,” he said, “but to be able to come out on the professional circuit and win, I felt like that was giving something back to all these guys who work so hard to give me a competitive race car. There are only three guys on that team who are full-time. The rest have day jobs like me and Steve and come out whenever they can.”