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TORRENCE DENIED REPEAT WIN AT SONOMA
Although Still Winless in 2022, Top Fuel Champion Encouraged by Improvement
SONOMA, Calif. – Steve Torrence couldn’t repeat Sunday as Top Fuel champion at the Denso Sonoma Nationals, but the four-time reigning World Champion left Sonoma Raceway more confident than ever that his Capco Contractors team is headed down the right path in its transition to a new set-up.
“That’s as consistent as we’ve run since, we made all these changes,” said the 51-time tour winner after absorbing a narrow second round loss at the hands of Brittany Force, “and I think that’s the first time we’ve gone 330 (miles an hour) this year.
Photos by Mark Rebilas
Reigning World Champion Steve Torrence and his Capco Contractors dragster narrowly lost a second-round decision to Brittany Force in Sunday's NHRA Sonoma Nationals in California's wine country. Force went on to win the Top Fuel trophy. The tour moves this week to Seattle for the final race in the Western Swing.
For the first time this year, Torrence’s Top Fuel Toyota gave a pretty good impression of its predecessor, the car that carried the Texan to 45 wins in 105 events in one incredible stretch during which he became the only driver in history to sweep the six races in the Countdown to the Championship.
At Sonoma, it went down the racetrack under power and posted competitive numbers on every run with times of 3.710, 3.701, 3.715, 3.687 (to beat eight-time World Champion Tony Schumacher) and, finally, 3.716, the latter a loser to Force’s 3.663 despite Torrence’s .036 of a second starting line advantage.
Photos by Mark Rebilas
Four-time World drag racing champion Steve Torrence shares a moment with daughter Haven Charli at the Sonoma Nationals in California. Ousted in the second round Sunday, Torrence will drive his Capco Contractors dragster this week at Seattle, Wash.
The upshot is that the 2022 ESPY Award nominee earned qualifying bonus points in each session for just the second time this year. Moreover, his 330.80 mph top speed in Q3 was the fastest speed to which he has accelerated since last October when he reached 333.58 mph at Bristol, Tenn.
When qualifying begins Friday at Pacific Raceways, Torrence will trail point leader Mike Salinas by // points and Force by // with just four races remaining in which he can make up ground in his bid to win an unprecedented fifth straight regular season championship.
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.
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.
