If Top Fuel points leader Steve Torrence sounds a little bit cranky, just consider him already in the middle of a knock-down, throw-down, take-no-prisoners battle for the championship he felt he should have claimed last season.

It’s not personal off the track. But he’s in his “Don’t mess with Texas” mode, and the Kilgore, Texas, native and driver of the Capco Contractors Dragster is not kidding around as the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals is set for eliminations Sunday at Gateway Motorsports Park at Madison, Ill., near St. Louis.

Torrence led the class into the Countdown last week at Reading, Pa., and won the Dodge Nationals there, defeating his closest two rivals, Clay Millican and Tony Schumacher. Then he watched as, despite his best efforts Friday, Millican positioned himself in the catbird seat this weekend.

And Torrence wasn’t having any of it.

Irked that he allowed Millican to cut his lead in half at Reading with qualifying bonus points – and annoyed that Millican got the better of him through three qualifying sessions here along the Mississippi River – Torrence struck back Saturday night.

He barged back to the No. 1 qualifying position on his final shot at it, with an in-your-face 3.675 seconds at 327.19 mph and nine qualifying bonus points.

That gave him his 19th top-qualifying honor of his pro career, his third this season, and his second at the Midwest Nationals. He led the field in 2105, as well.

“We let Clay make up 10 points in qualifying last week,” Torrence groused about seeing his advantage sliced in half. “We came in here focused on making sure that didn’t happen this week.  They’ve got a real fast race car, but this Capco hot rod ain’t bad, either.”

Unfulfilled until he has that Top Fuel championship, Torrence didn’t think he had arrived just because he’s the No. 1-ranked driver in this eliminations process.

“It doesn’t mean anything,” Torrence said of grabbing the No. 1 position.  “Well, it means these Capco boys have really got it going on. But if we don’t execute tomorrow, it won’t mean anything on Monday, that’s for sure.”

Torrence, last year’s winner here, will race Bill Litton in Sunday’s first round of eliminations as he seeks his 23rd victory and seventh this season – and validation that he’s doing everything he can not to stumble.

The feisty Torrence, who has won 14 races during the past two seasons, was third-quickest in the first qualifying session Friday at 3.782 seconds. He ran a 3.717 in the Friday evening session but couldn’t overtake Millican. He clocked a 3.708 in Saturday’s opener before unloading the 3.675 Saturday night.

The 3.675 is his quickest E.T. since February, when he ran 3.655 in qualifying for the Arizona Nationals, near Phoenix.

Billy Torrence, back behind the wheel of a second Capco Contractors entry in support of his son’s title bid, continued to impress with a No. 3 qualifying effort at 3.717 seconds.  He will oppose veteran Pat Dakin in the opening round of runoffs Sunday.

One drive to keep an eye on is U.S. Army Dragster driver Tony Schumacher, who’s lurking in sixth place in the order. Schumacher came to St. Louis tied with Millican for second place, and he has the self-assurance of coming from behind several times to seize the Top Fuel championship. With consistent 3.7-second passes in qualifying and a weekend-best of 3.731 seconds at 330.72 mph in his final attempt, he said he can feel the momentum.

As he prepped for a first-round meeting with Richie Crampton, whom he beat in their most recent meeting, in the second round at Epping, N.H., Schumacher said, “The last qualifying run was a big one for this U.S. Army Racing team. We have been extremely slow. We were five one-hundredths off, and we can’t win a race that way. We made some big changes on that last run and it was an awesome, awesome run. We are heading the right direction.

“Tomorrow is a long day. No one is safe,” he said. “I understand there are some cars running better than we are, but this is the beginning. This is when we get the best.”

So Torrence will have his hands full with several rivals ready to knock him from his points pedestal.