Torrence nominated at the 2022 ESPYs (2 Viewers)

[robinjackson]

REIGNING TOP FUEL CHAMPION STEVE TORRENCE NOMINATED FOR 2022 ESPYS AWARD | Competition Plus

NHRA four-time defending Top Fuel world champion Steve Torrence has been nominated for the Best Driver Award for the 2022 ESPYS. Torrence claimed his the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series championship in Top Fuel last year, giving the Texan his fourth consecutive world title in his...

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ESPYS 2022 -- Best Driver

Kyle Larson, Max Verstappen, Steve Torrence and Álex Palou earn nominations for Best Driver at the 2022 ESPYS.

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[Nunz]

I almost started a thread but found this one from several days ago. You can vote daily, we should put a push on to help Steve.

 

[stoppro]

nope

 

[Chili]

nope

That is a problem why this sport will never grow to be like other motorsports.Voting for Torrence is a vote for NHRA. You don’t have to like the guy. I try to help every drag racer out on social media. I follow every drag racer I can wether they run Top Fuel through local bracket racers. If they post something on Instagram or Twitter it costs me nothing to click the “like” button. If every drag racing fan did the same it would help the racers get a larger social media presence and maybe acquire or keep a sponsor. I do what I can to help the sport grow.

 

[J. S.]

That is a problem why this sport will never grow to be like other motorsports.Voting for Torrence is a vote for NHRA. You don’t have to like the guy. I try to help every drag racer out on social media. I follow every drag racer I can wether they run Top Fuel through local bracket racers. If they post something on Instagram or Twitter it costs me nothing to click the “like” button. If every drag racing fan did the same it would help the racers get a larger social media presence and maybe acquire or keep a sponsor. I do what I can to help the sport grow.

This is very well said. I am not necessarily a big Steve fan because of the way he has behaved a few times here and there, but I am a big fan of their operation overall and what they have been able to accomplish by setting a new standard that shows how a mostly single car team can compete at a very high level using off the shelf parts. And Chris is right that if any NHRA driver could win an ESPY award (even though what ESPN has become is a real disgrace) it would really help to raise the profile of NHRA drag racing.

 

[DanTheFan]

Can’t do. He’s a winner but not a great ambassador of the sport.

 

[TSK]

I was able to talk with Steve for several minutes on Friday of this year’s Phoenix race.
He was very polite and respectful. Whenever I asked him a question (we weren’t talking about racing), he answered either “yes sir” or “no sir.” It wasn’t forced.
He’s got my vote.

 

[camaro]

Everybody's polite and kind when things are going good and their winning races. The true test of one's personality is how u act when things are not so good and as i recall Torrence didn't have the warmest personality, before his championship run!

 

[4onthefl4]

Everybody's polite and kind when things are going good and their winning races. The true test of one's personality is how u act when things are not so good and as i recall Torrence didn't have the warmest personality, before his championship run!

Well said. I wonder what his attitude is now-a-days since he hasn't won a race so far this year. I still voted for him, not that I like him, but I felt it was vote for drag racing in general.

 

[Chili]

Torrence takes a lot of heat from his actions involving Ferre several years ago. Ferre and Torrence are pretty good friends so I’m not going to hold that against him. I don’t cheer for Torrence only because he has won 4 straight championships. The Torrence team helps a bunch of other teams out. They will help them with their tuneup and they sell them high quality used parts.

I tried a little experiment at the Norwalk race to see the results. As i walked around the pits, I either waved or nodded at every racer that I saw from the Pro classes and even PM and the alky classes. Only two drivers that did see me did not respond with an acknowledgment. I’m not going to call out the two that didn’t but I will do it again this weekend to see if the results are the same.

We are lucky to have a sport where the stars are regular people. We all have our good and bad days in life but the racers in our sport are awesome 95% of the time. If you get a chance to talk to them for a minute or two you might become a fan of them for life. Don’t let a a comment or action in the heat of the moment mold your opinion of them.

 

[Scoe]

Well said. I wonder what his attitude is now-a-days since he hasn't won a race so far this year. I still voted for him, not that I like him, but I felt it was vote for drag racing in general.

You can ask Amanda Busick what his attitude is. I get the frustration fresh off of a loss and I didn't initially hold it against him for venting.

It was him doubling down a few days later on social media that made me shake my head. You would think that somebody of his stature would put it behind him instead of continuing to mock and knock people for doing their job. I say all this as someone who has defended Steve against people who still hold the Ferre incident against him.

Still gonna cast a vote for him as it would be a great look for the NHRA and drag racing as a whole.

 

[Nunz]

Tough crowd here. Well for those that want to help Steve and/or the sport, remember you can vote everyday.

 

[4onthefl4]

Torrence takes a lot of heat from his actions involving Ferre several years ago. Ferre and Torrence are pretty good friends so I’m not going to hold that against him. I don’t cheer for Torrence only because he has won 4 straight championships. The Torrence team helps a bunch of other teams out. They will help them with their tuneup and they sell them high quality used parts.

I tried a little experiment at the Norwalk race to see the results. As i walked around the pits, I either waved or nodded at every racer that I saw from the Pro classes and even PM and the alky classes. Only two drivers that did see me did not respond with an acknowledgment. I’m not going to call out the two that didn’t but I will do it again this weekend to see if the results are the same.

We are lucky to have a sport where the stars are regular people. We all have our good and bad days in life but the racers in our sport are awesome 95% of the time. If you get a chance to talk to them for a minute or two you might become a fan of them for life. Don’t let a a comment or action in the heat of the moment mold your opinion of them.

The only driver who really pissed me off to the point I have no respect for, is Don Prudhomme. Yeah, I know, he's done some good for the sport, but sometime in the mid-eighties at the Gatornationals he didn't qualify and he was standing at the ropes to his pit talking to Steve Evans. I walked up and asked if I could take a picture of the 2 of them with my son. Mr. Evans obliged and Prudhomme turned and went back in his transporter.
We all have bad days, but like the old saying goes, "you don't get a second chance to make a first impression".

 

[Nunz]

The only driver who really pissed me off to the point I have no respect for, is Don Prudhomme. Yeah, I know, he's done some good for the sport, but sometime in the mid-eighties at the Gatornationals he didn't qualify and he was standing at the ropes to his pit talking to Steve Evans. I walked up and asked if I could take a picture of the 2 of them with my son. Mr. Evans obliged and Prudhomme turned and went back in his transporter.
We all have bad days, but like the old saying goes, "you don't get a second chance to make a first impression".

Everybody beats up on Torrence, but Snake was notorious for being a jerk to fans back in the day. He even admitted to such in his book I believe. But, that's how intense he was.

 

[Jeff]

That Steve is friends with Cameron today really tells me more about who he is than the cringe worthy moment that some, for lack of a better term are crucifying him for.
Who among us has done something that is they would like to take back?
Me, I have a couple of whoppers I would give anything to take back. I was not the same person I am today, I have grown from that experience...

 

[DanTheFan]

Tony and Erica were candidates at some point, not sure about others. Both are legends already. Maybe Steve will get there in a few years.

 

[camaro]

The only driver who really pissed me off to the point I have no respect for, is Don Prudhomme. Yeah, I know, he's done some good for the sport, but sometime in the mid-eighties at the Gatornationals he didn't qualify and he was standing at the ropes to his pit talking to Steve Evans. I walked up and asked if I could take a picture of the 2 of them with my son. Mr. Evans obliged and Prudhomme turned and went back in his transporter.
We all have bad days, but like the old saying goes, "you don't get a second chance to make a first impression".

i always felt it's unfair to judge a racers overall demeanor on one or two fan interactions. they are only human, and like all of us, are not always in a good mood, as they run into thousands of fans all the time and it's very hard to be nice to everyone !! For me, Prudhomme, once actually stop what he was doing and posed for my picture, which i thought was very special, of course this was back in the 70's when he was burying the competition, so the odds of catching him in a good mood were pretty good ! . . . . . . . To his credit, Torrence seemed to handle this winless streak alot better than i thought he would, during his interviews so . . . . .

 

[DanTheFan]

It really doesn’t matter much that he got a slow start. No doubt he will quickly step on it during the countdown. He has the best crew.

 

[qualified17th]

We are lucky to have a sport where the stars are regular people.

This is a big thing that I think needs to be promoted more than it is. Between the rosters of both nitro classes, I counted only 10 drivers whose full-time job is driving the race car. Everyone else makes their money doing something else during the week, whether that be owning their race team, or something outside of drag racing completely. No other professional motorsport comes anywhere close to that statistic.

 

[Chili]

The only driver who really pissed me off to the point I have no respect for, is Don Prudhomme. Yeah, I know, he's done some good for the sport, but sometime in the mid-eighties at the Gatornationals he didn't qualify and he was standing at the ropes to his pit talking to Steve Evans. I walked up and asked if I could take a picture of the 2 of them with my son. Mr. Evans obliged and Prudhomme turned and went back in his transporter.
We all have bad days, but like the old saying goes, "you don't get a second chance to make a first impression".

Shelly Anderson has a great story about Prudhomme. When she was a child, Prudhomme blew her off in the staging lanes in Pomona. Years later when she became a Top Fuel driver she gave him a lot of attitude back. She told the story on the J.R. Todd-Shawn Langdon podcast called the Nomex Effect. It’s back from November of 2018. Its a great listen if you get a chance.