Just when it appeared NHRA Top Fuel owner-driver Josh Hart was starting to get a handle on his new R+L Carriers Dragster by cranking out a 3.791-second elapsed time on a Bristol Dragway racetrack that had frustrated almost every Funny Car racer in the minutes before, along came Steve Torrence. 

Trying himself to coax those epic class-dominating performances of the past four or five years from his still-strong Capco Contractors Dragster, Torrence matched Hart at 3.791 seconds and raised the ante in their 300-plus-mph Thunder Valley Nationals poker game Friday on the Tennessee track. 

Torrence ran a 317.79-mph speed, trumping Hart’s 316.60.  

“Everyone is talking about how we haven’t won a race yet,” Torrence said, “but the car is running reasonably well. We just haven’t had the consistency we’ve had the last few years. I can’t say it often enough: it’s hard to win out here . . . so many good cars, so many hungry teams, plus we’re the ones with the targets on our back. We wouldn’t want it any other way. Competition is what pushes every one of these Capco boys to go the extra mile. To be the best, we know we have to beat the best.” 

The Top Fuel field has two more Saturday afternoon qualifying opportunities before the field is set for Sunday’s eliminations. But so far, Torrence has an edge over Hart, provisional No. 3 Antron Brown (who might be in the midst of a pivotal weekend), and tentative No. 4 racer Clay Millican, the home-state favorite from Drummonds, in West Tennessee. 

Brown, in the Matco Tools / Toyota entry, and Millican, in the Parts Plus Dragster, were separated on the grid by only six-thousandths of a second (3.802, 3.808). Brown clocked the class’ best speed of the day at 323.35 mph. 

Fifth-quickest Friday was Spencer Massey, who recorded a 3.861-second, 319.60-mph effort in Pat Dakin’s Commercial Metal Fabrications Dragster.  

Torrence is racing without dad Billy Torrence in the second team dragster this Fathers Day weekend, but since his last appearance here at Bristol, he has become a father himself. He and wife Natalie have a daughter, Haven Charli, who just turned a year old in April and is beginning to take her first steps. 

He said becoming a father himself has given him even more impetus to excel and do it in a way that makes his family proud. 

“Being a dad is more important than anything else,” Torrence said. “It doesn’t change your drive to be the best, but it does change your perspective.” 

He said, “I wear my emotions on my sleeve, and a few times I’ve let those emotions get away from me. Now that I’m a dad, I’m trying really hard not to be that guy. This is a high-intensity, emotion-driven sport, and if you let those emotions get the better of you, which I know I’ve done, people will never let you forget it. I’ve done what I can to make amends, and that’s all I can do. 

“Going forward, I just want to make my daughter proud, make Natalie proud, and make the rest of my family proud,” Torrence said. 

And this Fathers Day weekend, Steve Torrence said he doesn’t have to look farther than his neighbor and his boss at work at Kilgore, Texas, for inspiration. He credits his own dad, 10-time drag-racing winner Billy Torrence, for his proper upbringing. 

“The thing he taught me that’s most important, not just in racing, but in life, is a work ethic,” Steve Torrence said of his teammate/work-colleague dad. “It’s a huge part of the success we’ve had the last few years. Everybody out there racing for the championship has the parts, the pieces, and the people. Sometimes it just comes down to who puts in the most work. I think when you have that mentality and somebody else sees it, it carries over to the next person. Dealing with people like my dad has, you get to understand what elevates them and what motivates them, and that’s something he has shared with each and every one of us [on the Capco team].” 

Joining Torrence as provisional No. 1 qualifiers Friday were Robert Hight (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock), and Angelle Sampey (Pro Stock Motorcycle). 

At third place in the standings, Torrence has a 99-point gap to make up if he is to catch leader Brittany Force. She said her engine “just freakin’ blew” at about 800 feet into her opening run. Nevertheless, she was able to secure the No. 6 spot in the order overnight.