What a moment.

For part-time racer Billy Torrence, father of championship contender and 21-time national event winner Steve Torrence, trips to the racetrack are a great opportunity to spend a little quality time with his family while also flexing a little muscle for the Capco Contractors Top Fuel team.

But on Saturday, Torrence proved much more than just a support driver for the team as the 62-year-old journeyman bested the entire field on his way to collecting his first career No. 1 qualifier at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway.

“It is pretty cool. The car that I have under me puts a little pressure on me because Steve and the boys have got me a really good team over there with Walt (Przybyl) and Dom (Lagana) and all those guys that put that car together,” Torrence said. “So I have to rise to the occasion to not be the weak link.”

Torrence blasted to the top of the charts in the fourth and final qualifying session on Saturday, overtaking his son in the process. With Steve Torrence atop the ladder after a strong run in Q3, unseating previous top qualifier Antron Brown from Friday night, Torrence found the right combination and stole the top spot from Steve by just .002-seconds.

Torrence’s first-career green hat came on the back of a 3.784-second pass at 326.32 mph in the Capco Contractors dragster. Steve Torrence was second with a 3.786 at 325.37 mph, while Brown dipped to third with a 3.789 at 325.45 mph.

Clay Millican (3.790) and Mike Salinas (3.797) rounded out the top five following a wild four rounds of qualifying in Top Fuel that saw four different drivers take a turn atop the ladder.

“That is a big deal for that Capco team to be number one and number two. That is Capco strong right there,” Torrence said. “I thought that (Steve) would come around me and they just didn’t make it that time. But we intend to do this same deal right there in the final tomorrow. There needs to be two Capco cars in the final.”

This weekend marks only the sixth start of the year for the elder Torrence and his first start since early June. Outside of a 14th place qualifying position in his last start in Chicago, Torrence has qualified inside the top half of the field in each of his attempts this year with a previous best of third coming in Topeka.

Now Torrence will look to add another first on Sunday as he seeks his first career win. His previous best in 26 starts was a trio of semifinal finishes, his last coming earlier this year in Phoenix. Torrence will face Terry Totten in round one on Sunday.