Steve Torrence figured turnabout was fair play.

Antron Brown had beaten the Kilgore, Texas, native in the Top Fuel final round last October at his home track near Dallas.

So Torrence returned the favor Sunday for Central New Jersey native Brown at the NHRA Summernationals at Englishtown.

Torrence blasted to a winning 3.857-second elapsed time at 320.28 mph on the 1,000-foot Old Bridge Township Raceway Park course in the Capco Contractors Dragster. Brown, from nearby Chesterfield, chased him with a 3.932, 306.74 in the Matco Tools/Toyota Dragster.

Brown took the points lead from Leah Pritchett after she lost in the first round and he eliminated class newcomer Blake Alexander, then had a second-round bye. He’ll have a seven-point advantage over No.  Torrence as the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series tour moves this coming weekend to Tennessee’s Bristol Dragway.

“All day long I was pretty confident,” Torrence said after earning his 11th overall victory, his third of the season and his third total and second straight at Englishtown.

“They went out there and threw down some jaw-dropping numbers,” he said of Brown and his team. That track was 130-some degrees, and that’s not easy to navigate. That’s a testament to [crew chief] Richard Hogan being able to slide this thing down a dirt road, a gravel road, a wet racetrack, or whatever. He does it, and I’m proud of him and my team.”

Torrence’s achievement spoiled the annual homecoming for Brown, who spent hours as a youngster at this racetrack, watching his father and uncle race and dreaming of being like “Big Daddy” Don Garlits and his other NHRA heroes.

“Honestly, I wish that we could switch it: I could win at home, and he could win at home, because it’s a big deal to win in front of your hometown crowd. You don’t want to not win, but I would prefer to win at home and him here, just for friends and family you have around here,” Torrence said.

“He’s just as happy for me as I am for him. That’s the guy I least want to race, knowing my success ratio against him. That’s a super-super-lopsided victory record he has against me, but it’s not in my head anymore. I’ve got the car that can win. He’s got the car that can win. Now it’s just up to us to do our jobs and go. He’s one of my best friends I have. We’re racing Top Fuel. I’m living my dream. I’m racing one my best friends in the world. You’re not going to have a bad day,” Torrence said.

He might be beginning to think of this as his summer home.

“This place is about as far as you can get from my house,” he said, “but I think we should race at least seven or eight a year here. There’s always special things you get to remember about each one of these racetracks, and each one of these Wallys carries its own story that only me and my guys will know.”

Torrence defeated a list of highly motivated opponents: Smax Smith (the 60-something budget-strapped British-Canadian racer who tripped up Tony Schumacher in the first round a week ago), Clay Millican (the IHRA icon who’s seeking his first NHRA victory), and Doug Kalitta (who wanted a symbolic triumph in tribute to his late cousin Scott, who perished here in 2008).      

He shared the winners circle with Jack Beckman (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock), and Jerry  Savoie (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

Brown said, “We had a great weekend coming home to Englishtown. We qualified No. 1, and then we had a great E.T. in the first lap and then we ran low E.T. of the semifinals. Going into the finals, we just put it in ‘rinse and repeat.’ We knew we had a great car.” He said the runner-up finish “was a bummer. We dropped a hole at the step of the throttle. That’s what happens when you’re running these types of conditions. We learned a lot that we can apply for future races in the heat.

“We only have two wins right now, but we should have a lot more. But the finals didn’t go our way. The key is we’re going rounds, and that’s what wins championships. We’re heading in the right direction, and we’re improving every weekend. It was hilarious, because people were making comments that we’re a consistent car. But we’re not the quickest car, so this weekend it was good to come out here and qualify No. 1 and go some rounds and take over the points lead. So we’ll just keep doing what we’re doing and let the results speak for themselves.”

Bobby Lagana, Torrence’s car chief and a New York native who considers this a home victory, said seconds after the victory, “Those guys [the Matco Tools/ Toyota team] are sick racers. We love them. It’s family racing. Antron’s mom brings us cake.”

So Sunday afternoon, Torrence proved that against Brown, he can have his cake and beat him, too.