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TORRENCE GOES AFTER TITLE NUMBER FIVE
CAPCO Contractors Team Eyes Big Performance at Pep Boys Nationals
READING, Pa. – With a battle-hardened crew of CAPCO boys at his back and a potent Top Fuel Toyota beneath him, Steve Torrence hopes to take a giant first step toward his fifth Top Fuel World Championship this week when he competes in the 38th Pep Boys Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway.
Team CAPCO at the Pep Boys Nationals
STEVE TORRENCE
Total appearances: 10
Final rounds: 2
Victories: 1 (2018)
No. 1 qualifier: 0
Won-Lost record: 12-9
Noteworthy: Steve’s only victory in the Pep Boys Nationals came in 2018 when he made history by becoming the first and only driver in any pro category to sweep the races in the Countdown to the Championship.
Quickest time: 3.691 seconds, Oct. 2, 2016
Fastest speed: 330.88 mph, Sept. 14, 2018
Track records – 3.623 seconds by Brittany Force, Sept. 14, 2019; 337.66 mph by Brittany Force, Sept. 18, 2022.
Photos by Mark Rebilas
Ready to rumble. Texan Steve Torrence begins his pursuit of a fifth Top Fuel World Championship in this week's Pep Boys Nationals at Reading, Pa.
The No. 1 qualifier at two of the last three events leading into the NHRA playoffs including the Labor Day U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis, Ind., the 40-year-old Texan is cautiously optimistic about an event he has won only one time in his career (2018).STEVE TORRENCE
Total appearances: 10
Final rounds: 2
Victories: 1 (2018)
No. 1 qualifier: 0
Won-Lost record: 12-9
Noteworthy: Steve’s only victory in the Pep Boys Nationals came in 2018 when he made history by becoming the first and only driver in any pro category to sweep the races in the Countdown to the Championship.
Quickest time: 3.691 seconds, Oct. 2, 2016
Fastest speed: 330.88 mph, Sept. 14, 2018
Track records – 3.623 seconds by Brittany Force, Sept. 14, 2019; 337.66 mph by Brittany Force, Sept. 18, 2022.
Photos by Mark Rebilas
Ready to rumble. Texan Steve Torrence begins his pursuit of a fifth Top Fuel World Championship in this week's Pep Boys Nationals at Reading, Pa.
“One thing we know is that it’s going to be fast and quick,” the 54-time tour winner said of a track on which Brittany Force set the current NHRA national record (3.623 seconds) in 2019.
“When you come to Reading, if you don’t bring a big stick, you’re going home real quick,” he said. “We’re coming into fall, the air’s starting to get cooler and these hot rods, they really like to run in cool air. We’ll just have to see how low we can go.”
Although he won just once during a highly-competitive, 15-race regular season, Torrence starts the six-race Countdown as the No. 2 seed. When qualifying begins Friday, he’ll be 30 points behind Justin Ashley and a handful ahead of close friend and fierce rival Antron Brown to whom he lost in the final round at Indy.
“It is what it is,” Torrence said of the Countdown. “It doesn’t make any difference what happened in the regular season, if you can’t bring it for the playoffs, it’s gonna be a long winter. These CAPCO boys know the drill and there’s nobody else I’d want behind me going into this fight.”
Although his distaste for the Countdown format is well-documented, Torrence has learned how to play the game. He is the only driver in any pro category to have swept the races in the Countdown, which he did in 2018 en route to his first title.
In addition, he is second in Countdown Top Fuel race wins with 13 and last year extended to seven the number of consecutive seasons in which he has won at least one Countdown race. That’s the sport’s longest active streak.
Torrence begins his quest in a pair of Friday qualifying sessions (2 p.m. and 5 p.m., Texas time) in which he will be trying to coax his CAPCO Contractors entry to its first No. 1 start at the Pep Boys Nationals. Qualifying continues Saturday with sessions at 12:30 and 3:30 p.m. (Texas time). Final eliminations are slated for a 10 a.m., Texas time, start on Sunday.
Left photo: Four-time Top Fuel World Champion Steve Torrence, left, shares a moment with last year's Pep Boys Nationals winner Austin Prock. The two will start the qualifying process all over again Friday at Maple Grove Raceway in Pennsylvania.
Right photo: Steve Torrence hopes to light up the night in his CAPCO Contractors Top Fuel dragster starting Friday at the Pep Boys Nationals in Reading, Pa., opening event in the 2023 Countdown to the Championship.
Looking Back
Steve Torrence at the Pep Boys Nationals
Year Qualifying Position/Racing Result
2010 Reading 10. Lost to Shawn Langdon
2012 Reading 10. Lost to Antron Brown
2013 Reading DNQ
2014 Reading 8. Beat Larry Dixon; lost to Tony Schumacher
2015 Reading 7. Lost to Larry Dixon
2016 Reading 8. Beat Tony Schumacher; lost to Leah Pritchett
2017 Reading 3. Beat Terry Haddock, Leah Pritchett, Dom Lagana; lost to Brittany Force.
2018 Reading 4. Beat Bill Litton, Mike Salinas, Clay Millican and Tony Schumacher
2019 Reading 8. Lost to Clay Millican
2020 Reading Event Not Contested
2021 Reading 2. Beat Joe Morrison, bye; lost to Justin Ashley
2022 Reading 5. Beat Shawn Langdon; lost to Austin Prock
NHRA CAMPING WORLD TOUR
TOP FUEL Championship Points (adjusted for the Countdown)
1. Justin Ashley, Farmingdale, N.Y., Phillips Connect dragster 2121
2. Steve Torrence, Kilgore, Texas, CAPCO Contractors dragster 2081
3. Antron Brown, Pittsboro, Ind., Matco Tools dragster 2077
4. Leah Pruett, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., Dodge Direct Connection dragster 2063
5. Brittany Force, Aberdeen, N.C., Flav-R-Pac/ Monster Energy dragster 2053
6. Doug Kalitta, Saline, Mich., MAC Tools/Toyota dragster 2046
7. Mike Salinas, San Jose, Calif., Scrappers Racing dragster 2033
8. Austin Prock, Pittsboro, Ind., Montana Brand/Rocky Mountain Twist dragster 2025
9. Clay Millican, Drummonds, Tenn., Parts Plus dragster 2013
10. Josh Hart, Ocala, Fla., R+L Carriers dragster 2000
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
Looking Ahead
2023 NHRA Countdown Steve-O’s Highlights
Date Event Site Detail
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
On TV (subject to change)
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.
