CAPCO TEAM KEEPS ON TRUCKIN’ WITH PROVISIONAL NO. 1 IN SEATTLE
To say it has been a dream season for Steve Torrence thus far in 2017 would be an understatement.
Six wins, eight finals and two No. 1 qualifiers have helped the 34-year-old driver of the Capco Contractors dragster amass a comfortable lead in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series standings entering this weekend’s 30th annual NHRA Northwest Nationals. And on Friday, Torrence continued to show why this tiny, independent team from Texas is a force to be reckoned with.
Torrence surprised even himself with the provisional top spot Friday evening under hazy conditions at Pacific Raceways in Seattle, driving the Capco car to a 3.791-second lap at 324.75 mph to edge out Brittany Force by one one-thousandth of a second.
“It was crazy. I was already out the gate thinking the .791 wouldn’t stick. I figured AB (Antron Brown) or Tony (Schumacher) or Brittany (Force) - somebody - would go lower than that,” Torrence said. “I am really proud of the run. We knew it was a good, solid run, but with the oil down and the sun going down a little bit more cooling the track off, we thought we would see something better.”
Torrence’s chart-topping lap was actually made in the second pairing in qualifying session number two on Friday. Torrence then had to wait it out after an oildown three pairs later pushed the previous top qualifiers later into the evening.
But previous No. 1 qualifier Brittany Force ran into issues and had to click it off just past the halfway mark, while Tony Schumacher was unable to outrun the time set by Torrence earlier in the session.
Force is currently qualified second with a 3.792 at 323.89 mph in the Monster Energy dragster, while Schumacher has the Army machine third with a 3.802 at 322.96 mph.
“I am really proud of the Capco guys. They have done a magnificent job all year and just keep digging,” said Torrence, who will be seeking his 16th career No. 1 qualifier on Saturday. “That’s what it’s going to take. This is definitely going to be a fight to the finish and those guys and girls are nipping at our heels and we are trying to make sure they don’t get too close.
“Hats off to Richard Hogan and Bobby Lagana and everybody on the team.”
With a good solid run in the books, Torrence is prepared to work on race day conditions on Saturday to try and secure a seventh win of the season and second in a row on Sunday.
“Today was good, but the track conditions will be better tomorrow. We are going to try and work on that and pick it up some,” Torrence said. “It gives us a lot of leniency to go into tomorrow and work on those race day conditions.”