Back when Tony Schumacher was terrorizing Top Fuel drag racing in the mid-2000s, there were some who suggested that his was such a dominant performance that it never would be duplicated. 

 

After all, from 2006 through 2009, the former driver for the U.S. Army hoisted the trophy after nearly every third start, riding 31 tour victories to four consecutive championships. 

 

But that was then.  Ten years later, Steve Torrence is reminding everyone why we are told to “never say never.”

 

The reigning Mello Yello champion and runaway point leader at the wheel of the Capco Contractors dragster, Torrence is halfway through a season in which he is on pace to eclipse Schumacher’s records for Top Fuel performance over four consecutive seasons.

 

Remarkably, the 36-year-old Texan has won 28 races the last four years using a business model that likely would have been totally rejected during Schumacher’s years of total dominance.

 

Torrence is the face of a family-owned, family-financed race team comprised of self-described outlaws and, among them crew chiefs Richard Hogan and Bobby Lagana Jr.  Although Torrence lives in Kilgore, Texas, the team itself operates out of shop space rented from rival John Force in Brownsburg, Ind.

 

None of the parts and pieces used to put the Capco Contractors hybrid together are proprietary.  Instead, all of them are bought “off the shelf.”  That includes a chassis built by Morgan Lucas Racing and engine and driveline parts from Alan Johnson Engineering.

 

Nevertheless, there are a lot of intriguing similarities between Schumacher’s dominance and Torrence’s.  During his best four years, Schumacher won 21 more races than any other Top Fuel driver.  During his current run, Torrence has won 16 more races than anyone else.  

 

Schumacher won a Top Fuel record seven straight races and followed with a string of five straight.  Torrence won six straight tour events while sweeping last year’s Countdown and, but for a broken crankshaft in the final round at Bristol, Tenn., likely would be racing next week for his eighth straight “Wally” instead of just his second. 

 

Last year, when he won 11 times, Torrence was perfect in final rounds, a performance that earned him a nomination for a “Best Driver” ESPY this year along with Lewis Hamilton from Formula 1, Scott Dixon from Indy Car racing and Kyle Busch from NASCAR. 

 

Schumacher enjoyed the same recognition three times during the era in which he set the Top Fuel record for races won in a single season with 15 (2008).

 

Following is a look at the four-year totals of both drivers: 

 

 

 

2006 23 8 5 13 13 41-18 CHAMPION

2007 23 6 6 12 3 32-17 CHAMPION

2008 24 18 15 9 3 76-9 CHAMPION

2009 24 7 5 2 2 47-19 CHAMPION

 

*Indicates quickest elapsed time during eliminations

 

 

 

2016 23 8 3 3 1 39-20 3rd 

2017 24 11 8 3 0 56-16 2nd 

2018 24 11 11 3 4 58-13 CHAMPION

2019 12 8 6 3 3 33-6 Currently 1st 

 

*Indicates quickest elapsed time during eliminations