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Four-Time World Champ Seeks Fourth Win in World’s Biggest Drag Race
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – On drag racing’s biggest stage, few drivers have delivered excellence with greater consistency than four-time World Champion Steve Torrence, driver of the CAPCO Contractors Top Fuel Toyota.
Team CAPCO at the NHRA U.S. Nationals
STEVE TORRENCE
Total appearances: 14 (13 in Top Fuel)
Final rounds: 6 (5 in Top Fuel)
Victories: 3 (2017, 2021 in Top Fuel)
No. 1 qualifier: 0
Won-Lost record: 27-11 (23-11 in Top Fuel)
Noteworthy: Steve is one of 28 drivers to have won a Camping World tour event and an NHRA bonus race on the same race weekend, accomplishing that feat in 2017 when he won the U.S. Nationals and the Traxxas Nitro Shootout at IRP. Overall, he has won four different events at Indy – the U.S, Nationals (3 times including Top Alcohol Dragster in 2005), the 2020 Dodge Indy Nationals, the Traxxas Shootout and last year’s inaugural Pep Boys All-Star Call Out.
Quickest time: 3.656 seconds, August 31, 2019
Fastest speed: 331.12 mph, August 31, 2019
Track records – 3.640 seconds by Brittany Force, Sept. 4, 2022; 337.75 mph by Brittany Force, Sept. 4, 2022.
STEVE TORRENCE
Total appearances: 14 (13 in Top Fuel)
Final rounds: 6 (5 in Top Fuel)
Victories: 3 (2017, 2021 in Top Fuel)
No. 1 qualifier: 0
Won-Lost record: 27-11 (23-11 in Top Fuel)
Noteworthy: Steve is one of 28 drivers to have won a Camping World tour event and an NHRA bonus race on the same race weekend, accomplishing that feat in 2017 when he won the U.S. Nationals and the Traxxas Nitro Shootout at IRP. Overall, he has won four different events at Indy – the U.S, Nationals (3 times including Top Alcohol Dragster in 2005), the 2020 Dodge Indy Nationals, the Traxxas Shootout and last year’s inaugural Pep Boys All-Star Call Out.
Quickest time: 3.656 seconds, August 31, 2019
Fastest speed: 331.12 mph, August 31, 2019
Track records – 3.640 seconds by Brittany Force, Sept. 4, 2022; 337.75 mph by Brittany Force, Sept. 4, 2022.
In 23 career races at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, site this week of the 69th annual NHRA U.S. Nationals, the 40-year-old Texan has advanced to 11 final rounds and won six times.
He was the winner of the final Traxxas Shootout and the first Pep Boys Call Out, both contested at IRP, as well as of the 2020 Dodge Nationals, one of three special events contested during a season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic.
But it is in the track’s signature event, the U.S. Nationals, the world’s oldest, largest and most prestigious drag race, that his star has shone most brightly.
In his last 10 appearances, he has ridden a stellar 22-8 individual record to two wins (2017 and 2021) and three runner-up finishes, which is why, even though he trails Justin Ashley by 101 points, no one is discounting his chances of winning an unprecedented fifth regular season championship, especially with half again as many points available this weekend as at any other event outside of the Countdown.
Despite all his Top Fuel success, Torrence set the bar exceedingly high long before he logged his first 300 mile per hour finish line speed. In 2005, in what would be his only IRP start in a Top Alcohol dragster, he beat former and future NHRA Top Fuel winners Gene Snow and Hillary Will in the final two rounds on the way to a U.S. Nationals victory that helped propel him to the Lucas Oil Series championship.
After going 1-3 in his first three Indy starts in Top Fuel, he hit his stride in 2013 when he reached the final round not only of “The Big Go,” but also of the companion Traxxas Shootout. Even though didn’t he collect either trophy, the performance instilled in him a level of confidence that would carry him to four straight World Championships beginning in 2018 when he became the first and only driver to sweep the six races in the Countdown.
“When you win Indy, you know you’ve done something special,” Torrence said, “you haven’t just beaten the best, you’ve beaten the best at their best because everybody gets up for Indy.
“I can’t say enough about my guys,” gushed the 54-time tour winner in reference to crew chiefs Richard Hogan and Bobby Lagana Jr. and the rest of the group he calls his “CAPCO boys.” “They’ve given me a bad-to-the-bone hot rod. I couldn’t be more proud and I wouldn’t want to go into this battle with anyone else.”
Overall, in the U.S. Nationals and all the aforementioned bonus races in Top Alcohol and Top Fuel, Torrence has won 70 percent of his two-car races (43-18) at Indy and beaten 29 different opponents.
He’ll try to enhance that resume starting with a single Top Fuel qualifying session at 7 p.m. Friday. Qualifying will continue Saturday at 3:30 and 7 p.m. and conclude Sunday with sessions at 2:15 and 5:30 p.m. Eliminations begin with the first round of Top Fuel racing at 11 a.m. Monday.
Looking Back
Steve Torrence at the Dodge U.S. Nationals
Year Qualifying Position/Racing Result
TOP ALCOHOL
2005 Indianapolis 5. Beat Arthur Gallant, Bill Reichert, Gene Snow and Hillary Will
TOP FUEL
2008 Indianapolis 14. Lost to Hillary Will
2009 Indianapolis Did Not Compete
2010 Indianapolis 8. Beat Rod Fuller; lost to Larry Dixon
2011 Indianapolis Did Not Compete
2012 Indianapolis 11. Lost to J.R. Todd
2013 Indianapolis 3. Beat Tommy Johnson, Billy Torrence, Khalid alBalooshi; lost to Shawn Langdon
2014 Indianapolis 2. Beat J.R. Todd, Larry Dixon, Khalid alBalooshi; lost to Richie Crampton
2015 Indianapolis 3. Lost to Richie Crampton
2016 Indianapolis 2. Beat Bruce Litton, Shawn Langdon, Doug Kalitta; lost to Tony Schumacher
2017 Indianapolis 3. Beat Ashley Sanford, Antron Brown, Leah Pruett and Kebin Kinsley
2018 Indianapolis 5. Beat Pat Dakin; lost to Terry McMillen
2019 Indianapolis 3. Beat Terry McMillen; lost to Antron Brown
2020 Indianapolis 2. Beat Kyle Wurtzel, Antron Brown; lost to Leah Pruett
2021 Indianapolis 2. Beat Antron Brown, Greg Carrillo, Billy Torrence and Brittany Force
2022 Indianapolis 3. Beat Austin Prock; lost to Antron Brown
Steve Torrence at the Indy COVID-19 events (2020)
E3 Nationals
2020 Indianapolis 1. Beat Luigi Novelli, Shawn Langdon; lost to Billy Torrence
Lucas Summernationals
2020 Indianapolis 7. Lost to Billy Torrence
Dodge Indy Nationals
2020 Indianapolis 2. Beat Luigi Novelli, Justin Ashley, Leah Pruett and Terry McMillen
Steve Torrence at Indy Bonus Races
Traxxas Shootout:
2012 Beat Doug Kalitta, Brandon Bernstein; lost to Spencer Massey.
2013 Beat Tony Schumacher, Spencer Massey; lost to Shawn Langdon
2014 DNQ
2015 Lost to Richie Crampton
2016 Lost to Shawn Langdon
2017 Beat Clay Millican, Doug Kalitta and Tony Schumacher
Pep Boys All-Star Call Out:
2022 Beat Leah Pruett, Justin Ashley and Brittany Force
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
Looking Ahead
2023 NHRA Camping World Tour Steve-O’s Highlights
Countdown to the Championship
9-17 Pep Boys Nationals Reading, PA 2018 winner
9-24 NHRA Carolina Nationals Charlotte, NC 2018, 2019 winner
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
NHRA CAMPING WORLD TOUR
Championship Points
(After 14 of 15 races setting the lineup for the Countdown to the Championship)
TOP FUEL
1. Justin Ashley, Farmingdale, N.Y., Phillips Connect dragster 1133
2. Steve Torrence, Kilgore, Texas, CAPCO Contractors dragster 1032
3. Antron Brown, Pittsboro, Ind., Matco Tools dragster 907
4. Brittany Force, Aberdeen, N.C., Flav-R-Pac dragster/ Monster Energy 885
5. Leah Pruett, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., Rayce Rudeen dragster 871
6. Austin Prock, Pittsboro, Ind., Montana Brand/Rocky Mountain Twist dragster 789
7. Mike Salinas, San Jose, Calif., Scrappers Racing dragster 761
8. Doug Kalitta, Saline, Mich., MAC Tools/Toyota dragster 753
9. Josh Hart, Ocala, Fla., R+L Carriers dragster 715
10. Clay Millican, Drummonds, Tenn., Parts Plus dragster 706
11. Shawn Langdon, Danville, Ind., CMR Roofing/Toyota dragster 652
12. Tony Schumacher, Lakeway, Texas, SCAG/Okuma dragster 553
Photos by Mark Rebilas
Left Photo: Steve Torrence, left, and Tony Schumacher; 12 championships, 13 U.S. Nationals wins between them. Both try to add to their resumes in this weeks 69th edition at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
Right Photo: Steve Torrence, left, and Antron Brown share a moment before resuming their rivalry this week in the 69th annual NHRA U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis.
Steve Torrence executes a burnout in the CAPCO Contractors Top Fuel Toyota in which he is seeking a fourth U.S. Nationals victory this week at Indianapolis.
Steve Torrence at the Dodge U.S. Nationals
Year Qualifying Position/Racing Result
TOP ALCOHOL
2005 Indianapolis 5. Beat Arthur Gallant, Bill Reichert, Gene Snow and Hillary Will
TOP FUEL
2008 Indianapolis 14. Lost to Hillary Will
2009 Indianapolis Did Not Compete
2010 Indianapolis 8. Beat Rod Fuller; lost to Larry Dixon
2011 Indianapolis Did Not Compete
2012 Indianapolis 11. Lost to J.R. Todd
2013 Indianapolis 3. Beat Tommy Johnson, Billy Torrence, Khalid alBalooshi; lost to Shawn Langdon
2014 Indianapolis 2. Beat J.R. Todd, Larry Dixon, Khalid alBalooshi; lost to Richie Crampton
2015 Indianapolis 3. Lost to Richie Crampton
2016 Indianapolis 2. Beat Bruce Litton, Shawn Langdon, Doug Kalitta; lost to Tony Schumacher
2017 Indianapolis 3. Beat Ashley Sanford, Antron Brown, Leah Pruett and Kebin Kinsley
2018 Indianapolis 5. Beat Pat Dakin; lost to Terry McMillen
2019 Indianapolis 3. Beat Terry McMillen; lost to Antron Brown
2020 Indianapolis 2. Beat Kyle Wurtzel, Antron Brown; lost to Leah Pruett
2021 Indianapolis 2. Beat Antron Brown, Greg Carrillo, Billy Torrence and Brittany Force
2022 Indianapolis 3. Beat Austin Prock; lost to Antron Brown
Steve Torrence at the Indy COVID-19 events (2020)
E3 Nationals
2020 Indianapolis 1. Beat Luigi Novelli, Shawn Langdon; lost to Billy Torrence
Lucas Summernationals
2020 Indianapolis 7. Lost to Billy Torrence
Dodge Indy Nationals
2020 Indianapolis 2. Beat Luigi Novelli, Justin Ashley, Leah Pruett and Terry McMillen
Steve Torrence at Indy Bonus Races
Traxxas Shootout:
2012 Beat Doug Kalitta, Brandon Bernstein; lost to Spencer Massey.
2013 Beat Tony Schumacher, Spencer Massey; lost to Shawn Langdon
2014 DNQ
2015 Lost to Richie Crampton
2016 Lost to Shawn Langdon
2017 Beat Clay Millican, Doug Kalitta and Tony Schumacher
Pep Boys All-Star Call Out:
2022 Beat Leah Pruett, Justin Ashley and Brittany Force
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
Looking Ahead
2023 NHRA Camping World Tour Steve-O’s Highlights
Countdown to the Championship
9-17 Pep Boys Nationals Reading, PA 2018 winner
9-24 NHRA Carolina Nationals Charlotte, NC 2018, 2019 winner
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
NHRA CAMPING WORLD TOUR
Championship Points
(After 14 of 15 races setting the lineup for the Countdown to the Championship)
TOP FUEL
1. Justin Ashley, Farmingdale, N.Y., Phillips Connect dragster 1133
2. Steve Torrence, Kilgore, Texas, CAPCO Contractors dragster 1032
3. Antron Brown, Pittsboro, Ind., Matco Tools dragster 907
4. Brittany Force, Aberdeen, N.C., Flav-R-Pac dragster/ Monster Energy 885
5. Leah Pruett, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., Rayce Rudeen dragster 871
6. Austin Prock, Pittsboro, Ind., Montana Brand/Rocky Mountain Twist dragster 789
7. Mike Salinas, San Jose, Calif., Scrappers Racing dragster 761
8. Doug Kalitta, Saline, Mich., MAC Tools/Toyota dragster 753
9. Josh Hart, Ocala, Fla., R+L Carriers dragster 715
10. Clay Millican, Drummonds, Tenn., Parts Plus dragster 706
11. Shawn Langdon, Danville, Ind., CMR Roofing/Toyota dragster 652
12. Tony Schumacher, Lakeway, Texas, SCAG/Okuma dragster 553
Photos by Mark Rebilas
Left Photo: Steve Torrence, left, and Tony Schumacher; 12 championships, 13 U.S. Nationals wins between them. Both try to add to their resumes in this weeks 69th edition at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
Right Photo: Steve Torrence, left, and Antron Brown share a moment before resuming their rivalry this week in the 69th annual NHRA U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis.
Steve Torrence executes a burnout in the CAPCO Contractors Top Fuel Toyota in which he is seeking a fourth U.S. Nationals victory this week at Indianapolis.
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.
