CHAMP SHOWS HIS METTLE AT ST. LOUIS (1 Viewer)

[4onthefl4]

CHAMP SHOWS HIS METTLE AT ST. LOUIS
Midwest Nationals Win Puts Torrence Back in Contention for Fifth Top Fuel Title​

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ST. LOUIS, Mo. – All but written out of the championship script after consecutive second round losses to start the Camping World Countdown, four-time reigning Top Fuel World Champion Steve Torrence strong-armed his way back into contention Sunday by driving his Capco Contractors dragster to a resounding wire-to-wire victory in the 26th NHRA Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway.
Trying to become just the fourth driver in professional drag racing history to win as many as five straight NHRA championships, Torrence qualified No. 1, beat track record-holder Clay Millican in the second round and used a .027 of a second reaction time to turn back a challenge by Josh Hart in the final round.

FINAL ROUND RESULTS
Top Fuel – Steve Torrence, Capco Contractors dragster, 3.741, 328.70 mph, def. Josh Hart, R+L Carriers/Technet dragster, 3.749, 329.67 mph.
Funny Car – Robert Hight, Auto Club Chevy Camaro, 3.911, 331.61 mph, def. Ron Capps, NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Supra, 3.908, 330.47 mph.
Pro Stock – Erica Enders, Melling Performance Chevy Camaro, 6.535 seconds, 210.28 mph, def. Dallas Glenn, RAD Torque Systems Chevy Camaro, foul.

Photos by Mark Rebilas

Steve Torrence, left, celebrates a second straight Top Fuel win in the NHRA Midwest Nationals Sunday at St. Louis. Joining him, from left to right, were Funny Car winner Robert Hight, Pro Stock champ Erica Enders and Pro Stock Motorcycle winner Matt Smith.​

“I know there were a lot of doubters out there,” Torrence said of a season in which he and his ‘Capco Boys’ opted to make big changes to an engine-clutch set-up that had dominated the tour the previous five seasons, “but we’re a family and we always believed in ourselves. This was a great weekend but, to be honest, it took all we had to get around Josh in the final.
“There’s still work to do (in order to win the championship),” he said, “but we’ve got ourselves back in the hunt and we’ll have some momentum going home to Dallas (where the Countdown resumes Oct. 14-16 with the 37th annual Texas Fall Nationals).
“Every round was a big round for us,” Torrence said of his fourth win in six years at WWTR. “Going up there against Clay (in the second round), I thought I lost. I felt like he was ahead of me. I watched him the whole way. I knew I was late (at the start) and I was thinking, ‘I lost on a holeshot and now I’m going to have explain it (to a national TV audience)’. Clay had to tell me I won and then I got kinda happy about it.
“That .027 (reaction time), I was proud of that one,” he said of a final round performance that gave him a quick .021 of a second advantage over Hart. “None of us is Justin Ashley (the point leader and the tour leader in reaction time average), so for my old butt to do that, especially in the final, felt pretty good.”
In winning for the 53rd time in his pro career, the 39-year-old Texan extended to six the number of consecutive Countdowns in which he has won at least one race. That’s the longest active streak in the series.

Steve Torrence executes a burnout in his Capco Contractors dragster before racing to the Top Fuel championship in the 26th NHRA Midwest Nationals Sunday at St. Louis. The win pushed Torrence to within one round of the point lead in his bid for a fifth straight championship.
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By reaching the final round of the Midwest Nationals for the sixth straight year, Torrence leapfrogged Mike Salinas and Antron Brown. The victory, his second straight at WWTR, carrie him past regular season champion Brittany Force and into second place, just one racing round off the lead with three playoff races remaining.
“This team has a lot of character and a lot of pride,” Torrence said, “and it kinda rubbed us the wrong way when people started writing us off after the first two races. All we know is to just keep grinding and that’s what we’ve done. There are a lot of really good race teams out here but we’ll just keep doing what we do and see how it all plays out in the end.”
The victory was the 13th for Torrence in Countdown races. That’s sixth most all-time, all classes, and second most in Top Fuel behind only Brown’s 15.

A determined Steve Torrence will move on to the Texas Fall Nationals in Dallas Nov. 14-16 in second place in Camping World points in his ongoing bid to win a fifth consecutive series championship.​

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About Toyota ​

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.
Toyota directly employs more than 48,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 43 million cars and trucks at our 13 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 14th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, more than a quarter of the company’s 2021 North American sales were electrified.
Through the Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

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Next Scheduled CAMPING WORLD TOUR Event:
37th annual Texas Fall Nationals
Oct. 14-16, 2022
The Texas Motorplex
Dallas, Texas

NHRA CAMPING WORLD TOUR Championship Points
TOP FUEL (After the third of six races in the Countdown to the Championship)
1. Justin Ashley, Farmingdale, N.Y., Phillips Connect/Vita C dragster 2305
2. Steve Torrence, Kilgore, Texas, Capco Contractors dragster 2291
3. Brittany Force, Aberdeen, N.C., Monster Energy/Flav-R-Pac dragster 2275
4. Mike Salinas, San Martin, Calif., Pep Boys/Scrappers Racing dragster 2270
5. Antron Brown, Pittsboro, Ind., Matco Tools dragster 2262
6. Josh Hart, Ocala, Fla., R+L Carriers/Technet dragster 2241
7. Doug Kalitta, Saline, Mich., Kalitta Air/Toyota dragster 2217
8. Clay Millican, Drummonds, Tenn., Parts Plus dragster 2179
9. Shawn Langdon, Danville, Ind., CMR Roofing/Toyota dragster 2162
10. Austin Prock, Pittsboro, Ind., Montana Brand/Rocky Mountain Twist dragster 2161
11. Leah Pruett, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., Dodge Power Brokers dragster 2126
12. Tony Schumacher, Lakeway, Texas, SCAG/Okuma dragster 2118

CAPCO CONTRACTORS race summary
26th NHRA Midwest Nationals
Qualifying – Steve Torrence, No. 1 at 3.655 seconds, 328.22 miles per hour
Qualifying bonus points – 6 total, 3 each for quick time in Q1 and Q2
Round 1 – S. Torrence, 3.715 seconds, 330.15 mph, def. Buddy Hull, 3.910, 316.01 mph.
Round 2 – S. Torrence, 3.763, 327.35 mph, def. Clay Millican, 3.806, 283.73 mph.
Semifinals – S. Torrence, 3.725, 328.14 mph, def. Doug Kalitta, 4.108, 219.97 mph.
FINAL – Steve Torrence, 3.741, 328.70 mph, def. Josh Hart, 3.794, 329.67 mph​

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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.

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[ironpony]

I still think to a point he was screwing around to prove the welfare system is a farce. He laid down all year and in the last few races will become champion.
He has no sponsors to answer to, is still out having some fun.