Top Fuel points leader Steve Torrence is performing exceptionally well in the NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship, with one victory in two straight final-round appearances.
 
But the Capco Contractors Dragster driver remarked after his St. Louis victory, “I’m not a fan of this Countdown. But hell, if you beat everybody every time, you win, no matter what.”
 
Once the field of 10 eligible drivers is determined [at the conclusion of the U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis], points are reset. The No. 1-seeded driver gets a 20-point advantage over the No. 2- ranked racer. The Nos. 2-10 enter the Countdown separated by 10-point increments.
 
Torrence’s annoyance is with the socialistic nature of the format.
 
“You throw all the hard work away tat you’ve done to get here, and you reward a guy who was 500 points out of winning the championship and really no threat, and now that guy’s in the middle of everything,” Torrence said.
 
He isn’t the first driver to express dislike for the format that the NHRA established in 2007, just the most recent.
 
“Maybe at some point that’ll be a benefit to me. But I don’t think it’s indicative of a true champion and who really had the better car all year, just who had the better car for the last six races,” he said. “You have to work for 18 races [in the so-called “regular season”] to be the top seed. Then you throw all that work away.”
 
He didn’t complain without offering a solution, though.
 
“I would be more of a fan if they would structure it to where you cut your points in half. That would be more fair,” Torrence said, quickly acknowledging that the NHRA isn’t likely to revert to its original system.
 
“They’re not going to change it,” he said, “so we’ve got to race and do what we can and try to win every lap you possibly can.”