TORRENCE GLAD TO BE BACK AT BRAINERD
Four-Time World Champ Has Won Lucas Oil Nationals the Last Two Years
BRAINERD, Minn. – With his bid for an unprecedented fifth NHRA regular season championship in jeopardy, Steve Torrence sends his CAPCO Contractors Top Fuel dragster back to work this week in the 41st Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway.
As the two-time defending event champion, the 40-year-old Texan will share top billing with point leader Justin Ashley, whom he currently trails by 83 points.
Team CAPCO at the Lucas Oil Nationals
STEVE TORRENCE
Total appearances: 13
Final rounds: 2
Victories: 2 (2021, 2022)
No. 1 qualifier: 0
Won-Lost record: 18-10
Mission 2Fast/2Tasty Challenge points: 12
Noteworthy: Steve has won the last two years at the Lucas Oil Nationals, but his first Brainerd win came in 2005 when he beat Arthur Gallant in the Top Alcohol Dragster final on his way to winning the Lucas Oil Series championship. He is the only driver to have won NHRA championships in both the Top Fuel and Top Alcohol categories.
Quickest time: 3.684 seconds, August 21, 2021
Fastest speed: 331.45 mph, August 20, 2022
Track records – 3.640 seconds by Leah Pruett, Aug. 18, 2017; 334.98 mph by Brittany Force, Aug. 21, 2021.
Photos by Mark Rebilas
Four-time World Champion Steve Torrence looks to put Topeka behind him in pursuit of a third straight win in this week's Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd, Minn.
STEVE TORRENCE
Total appearances: 13
Final rounds: 2
Victories: 2 (2021, 2022)
No. 1 qualifier: 0
Won-Lost record: 18-10
Mission 2Fast/2Tasty Challenge points: 12
Noteworthy: Steve has won the last two years at the Lucas Oil Nationals, but his first Brainerd win came in 2005 when he beat Arthur Gallant in the Top Alcohol Dragster final on his way to winning the Lucas Oil Series championship. He is the only driver to have won NHRA championships in both the Top Fuel and Top Alcohol categories.
Quickest time: 3.684 seconds, August 21, 2021
Fastest speed: 331.45 mph, August 20, 2022
Track records – 3.640 seconds by Leah Pruett, Aug. 18, 2017; 334.98 mph by Brittany Force, Aug. 21, 2021.
Photos by Mark Rebilas
Four-time World Champion Steve Torrence looks to put Topeka behind him in pursuit of a third straight win in this week's Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd, Minn.
“I dug us a hole,” Torrence said of his narrow second round loss last week at Topeka, Kan., “but we can still dig out of it. We’ve got a really good race car and ‘Hoagie’ (crew chief Richard Hogan) and Bobby (Lagana Jr.) have a good handle on this track. If the driver can pick up his game a little, we should be good to go.”
Because of his early exit in the last race at Topeka, the 54-time Camping World tour winner won’t be a part of Saturday’s Mission Foods/US 2Fast/2Tasty Challenge which features semifinalists from the previous event.
That means he won’t have an opportunity to extend his three-race win streak in the series of companion events he has dubbed “the tortilla challenge,” but it also means he and his team can focus solely on Sunday’s eliminations and putting a CAPCO car in the winners’ circle for the fourth time (dad Billy Torrence got the first of his eight career Top Fuel wins in the 2018 Lucas Oil Nationals).
The only driver to have won NHRA championships in both the Top Fuel and Top Alcohol divisions and the only driver in any category to have swept the races in the NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship (2018), Torrence won three of his four Top Fuel titles after first winning the regular season crown. He was regular season champion in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021. No regular season champ was recognized in the abbreviated 2020 campaign because there was no Countdown.
Qualifying sessions at 3:30 and 6:30 p.m., Texas time, Friday will set the stage for final qualifying sessions at 1:30 and 4:15 p.m., Texas time, Saturday. Sunday eliminations are set for an 11 a.m., Texas time, start.
Left photo: Richard Hogan, left, and Bobby Lagana have Steve Torrence’s CAPCO Contractors dragster running on mean entering this weeks Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd, Minn.
Right photo: Steve Torrence executes a burnout in the CAPCO Contractors Top Fuel Toyota in which he is seeking his third straight win in the Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd, Minn.
On TV (subject to change)
Qualifying highlight show No. 1 at 8 pm ET Friday followed by a Sunday qualifying wrap-up from 1-2 pm, ET, Sunday, both on FS1. Sunday eliminations will air on FS1 from 4-7 pm, ET, Sunday.
Right photo: Steve Torrence executes a burnout in the CAPCO Contractors Top Fuel Toyota in which he is seeking his third straight win in the Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd, Minn.
On TV (subject to change)
Qualifying highlight show No. 1 at 8 pm ET Friday followed by a Sunday qualifying wrap-up from 1-2 pm, ET, Sunday, both on FS1. Sunday eliminations will air on FS1 from 4-7 pm, ET, Sunday.
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM), creator of the Prius hybrid and the Mirai fuel cell vehicle, is committed to building vehicles for the way people live through our Toyota and Lexus brands, and directly employs more than 63,000 people in North America (more than 49,000 of them in the U.S.).Over the past 65 years, Toyota has assembled nearly 45 million cars and trucks in North America at the company’s 13 manufacturing plants. By 2025, the company’s 14th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles.
Through our more than 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.), Toyota sold more than 2.4 million cars and trucks (more than 2.1 million in the U.S.) in 2022, of which, nearly one quarter were electrified vehicles (full battery, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell.
About CAPCO Contractors Inc.
Capco Contractors, Inc. is a family owned-and-operated construction company specializing in the oil and gas industries. A proud American company based in Texas with clients around the world, Capco was founded in 1995 by Billy Torrence and initially operated from a small office and one job-site trailer with a staff of only 12 employees. From those humble beginnings, Capco Contactors, Inc. has developed into a full-service pipeline company, capable of all aspects of pipeline work including site work, creation of compressor stations, mainline pipeline construction and pipeline integrity projects. It employs more than 200 people with main offices in Henderson, Texas.
