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TORRENCE HOPING TO BUILD ON POINT LEAD
Four-Time World Champion Has Scored Big in Past Events at ZMax Dragway
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Back in the point lead for the first time since July, Steve Torrence and his CAPCO Contractors crewmates try to create a little separation this week when the NHRA Countdown to the Championship moves to ZMax Dragway for the 15th Betway Carolina Nationals.
Team CAPCO at the NHRA Carolina Nationals
STEVE TORRENCE
Total appearances: 23 (10 in the Carolina Nationals)
Final rounds: 7 (2 in the Carolina Nationals)
Victories: 6 (2018, 2019 in the Carolina Nationals)
No. 1 qualifier: 3 (2019 in the Carolina Nationals)
Won-Lost record: 35-17 (16-8 in the Carolina Nationals)
This year at the Circle K 4Wide: Lost in final quad to Austin Prock, Leah Pruett and Josh Hart.
Noteworthy: From 2017 through 2021, Steve won six times at ZMax Dragway, sweeping both events in 2018 and 2019 and winning four consecutive four-wide races.
Quickest time: 3.683 seconds, May 14, 2021
Fastest speed: 331.61 mph, Sept. 25, 2022
Track records – 3.651 seconds by Brittany Force, April 29, 2023; 336.91 mph by Brittany Force, Sept. 24, 2022
The 40-year-old Texan will roll his CAPCO and Red Line Oil-backed Top Fuel Toyota to the starting line for Friday’s first qualifying session leading Justin Ashley by a scant seven points and veteran Doug Kalitta by 26.STEVE TORRENCE
Total appearances: 23 (10 in the Carolina Nationals)
Final rounds: 7 (2 in the Carolina Nationals)
Victories: 6 (2018, 2019 in the Carolina Nationals)
No. 1 qualifier: 3 (2019 in the Carolina Nationals)
Won-Lost record: 35-17 (16-8 in the Carolina Nationals)
This year at the Circle K 4Wide: Lost in final quad to Austin Prock, Leah Pruett and Josh Hart.
Noteworthy: From 2017 through 2021, Steve won six times at ZMax Dragway, sweeping both events in 2018 and 2019 and winning four consecutive four-wide races.
Quickest time: 3.683 seconds, May 14, 2021
Fastest speed: 331.61 mph, Sept. 25, 2022
Track records – 3.651 seconds by Brittany Force, April 29, 2023; 336.91 mph by Brittany Force, Sept. 24, 2022
Leah Pruett is just 54 behind, Antron Brown 56 and reigning champ Brittany Force 71 in a race that has the potential to be one of the closest in the history of the Camping World pro tour.
“It’s ‘game on’,” Torrence said. “Justin, Doug and Leah are right behind us and none of them has won a championship, so they’re real hungry.
“They want it so bad they can taste it,” said the four-time past World Champion, “and that makes them dangerous. Our advantage is experience. These CAPCO boys have been there before and won before. No surprises. They know exactly what it takes to be champions.”
Photos by Mark Rebilas
Steve Torrence and his CAPCO Contractors Top Fuel dragster will resume their rivalry with Toyota teammate Justin Ashley and the Phillips Connect dragster at this week’s 15th Betway Carolina
Nationals in Charlotte. Torrence leads Ashley by seven points in the race for the Camping World championship.
Torrence knows, too. He also knows how it feels to see it all slip away as it did in 2017 when he lost the championship to Force on the last day of the season.
“That was a punch to the gut,” he said. “We dominated all season, won Indy, won the Traxxas Shootout, won the regular season – but then it all went away. In the end, it was the best thing that happened to us because none of us ever wanted to feel that way again.”
Re-energized, Torrence and team left opponents no opportunity in 2018, winning all six Countdown races and finishing 404 points (20 racing rounds) ahead of Tony Schumacher in a performance unlikely to ever be duplicated.
“Four hundred points or four points, it doesn’t make any difference,” Torrence said. “As long as you’re ahead at the end, it all pays the same.”
Any one of the aforementioned six drivers could leave the Carolina Nationals with the Top Fuel point lead, but it would be hard to bet against a CAPCO group that has won six times in seven years on the all-concrete surface at ZMax.
While it’s true that four of those wins came in the Circle K 4Wide Nationals contested in the spring, Torrence has advanced to the semifinals or beyond in six of his last nine appearances in the fall race.
Torrence won in back-to-back years (2018 and 2019) before losing to Force in the semifinals in 2021 and to Ashley in the second round last fall. The race was not contested in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’ve got a great car,” said the 54-time pro tour winner, “but there are a lot of great cars out there. The key is not to get ahead of ourselves and just to do like always: take what the track gives us and keep going A to B. You can only win one round at a time.”
Qualifying begins with a single nitro session at 6 p.m., Texas time, on Friday. Saturday sessions at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., Texas time, will set the field for eliminations at 10 a.m., Texas time, Sunday.
Steve Torrence, right, with Top Fuel rival Leah Pruett, one of those trying to knock him from the top of the point standings at this week’s 15th Betway Carolina Nationals at Charlotte.
Steve Torrence executes a burnout in the CAPCO Contractors Top Fuel Toyota in which he is bidding this week for his third win in his last five starts in the Betway Carolina Nationals at Charlotte.
Steve Torrence at the Circle K 4Wide Nationals
Year Qualifying Position/Racing Result
2010 Charlotte1 7. Lost in first quad
2011 Charlotte1 7. Won first quad; lost in 2nd
2012 Charlotte1 1. Won first quad; lost in 2nd
2013 Charlotte1 6. Lost in first quad.
2014 Charlotte1 8. Lost in first quad.
2015 Charlotte1 12. Runner-Up to Antron Brown
2016 Charlotte1 1. Won first quad; lost in 2nd
2017 Charlotte1 4. WINNER over Tony Schumacher
2018 Charlotte1 4. WINNER over Doug Kalitta
2019 Charlotte1 6. WINNER over Clay Millican
2020 Charlotte1 Event Not Contested
2021 Charlotte1 2. WINNER over Brittany Force
2022 Charlotte1 3. Lost in first quad
2023 Charlotte1 4. Lost in final quad
Steve Torrence’s 2023 results
Event Qualifying Position/Racing Result
2023 Gainesville 2. Beat Scott Palmer, Tony Schumacher, Doug Kalitta; lost to Mike Salinas
2023 Phoenix 6. Beat Krista Baldwin, Austin Prock; lost to Justin Ashley
2023 Pomona1 6. Beat Josh Hart; lost to Austin Prock
2023 Las Vegas1 2. Runner-Up to Antron Brown (Brittany Force, Josh Hart)
2023 Charlotte1 4. Lost in final quad to Austin Prock, Leah Pruett, Josh Hart.
2023 Chicago 8. Lost to Leah Pruett
2023 Epping 8. Beat Austin Prock, Antron Brown; lost to Justin Ashley
2023 Bristol 3. Beat Shawn Langdon; lost to Doug Kalitta.
2023 Norwalk 2. Beat Doug Foley; lost to Justin Ashley
2023 Denver 6. Beat Justin Ashley, Antron Brown; lost to Doug Kalitta
2023 Seattle 4. Beat Josh Hart, Brittany Force, Shawn Langdon and Doug Kalitta
2023 Sonoma 2. Beat Ron August, advanced on bye run; lost to Antron Brown
2023 Topeka 1. Beat Terry Totten; lost to Brittany Force
2023 Brainerd 3. Beat Kyle Wurtzel; lost to Antron Brown
2023 Indianapolis 1. Beat Will Smith, Shawn Langdon, Doug Kalitta; lost to Antron Brown
2023 Reading 4. Bear Mike Salinas, Antron Brown, Tony Schumacher; lost to Doug Kalitta.
NHRA CAMPING WORLD TOUR Championship Points
(After the first of six events in the Countdown to the Championship)
TOP FUEL
1. Steve Torrence, Kilgore, Texas, CAPCO Contractors dragster 2189
2. Justin Ashley, Farmingdale, N.Y., Phillips Connect dragster 2182
3. Doug Kalitta, Saline, Mich., MAC Tools dragster 2163
4. Leah Pruett, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., Mobil 1 dragster 2135
5. Antron Brown, Pittsboro, Ind., Matco Tools dragster 2133
6. Brittany Force, Aberdeen, N.C., Flav-R-Pac/ Monster Energy dragster 2118
7. Mike Salinas, San Jose, Calif., Scrappers Racing dragster 2064
8. Austin Prock, Pittsboro, Ind., Montana Brand/Rocky Mountain Twist dragster 2058
9. Tony Schumacher, SCAG Power Equipment dragster 2055
10. Clay Millican, Drummonds, Tenn., Parts Plus dragster 2050
11. Shawn Langdon, Kalitta Air Careers dragster 2048
12. Josh Hart, Ocala, Fla., R+L Carriers dragster 2031
Looking Ahead
2023 NHRA Camping World Tour Steve-O’s Highlights
Countdown to the Championship
10-1 NHRA Midwest Nationals St. Louis, MO 6 straight final rounds; wins in
2017, 2018, 2021, 2022
10-15 NHRA Texas Fall Nationals Dallas, TX 2018, 2020 winner
10-29 NHRA Nevada Nationals Las Vegas, NV 2016, 2018, 2021 winner
11-12 In-N-Out World Finals Pomona, CA 2018, 2021 winner
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 (including 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.
