Steve Torrence extended his points lead to 307 points over closest challenger Antron Brown, racked up his 45th victory, and claimed his fifth triumph in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series’ first eight races Sunday at Morrison, Colo., near Denver.

Hopeful class newcomer Joey Haas, making only his fourth start, was his latest final-round victim at the Dodge//SRT Mile-High NHRA Nationals presented by Pennzoil. 

Torrence took the wire-to-wire victory with a 3.860-second elapsed time and 320.36-mph speed on the 1,000-foot course at Bandimere Speedway, while Haas’ slower reaction time left him with a 4.142, 262.08 effort. 

It marked his second straight and third overall victory at Bandimere Speedway, which did not host an event last year because of COVID-19 restrictions.  

“It was great to get back on the mountain,” Torrence said.  “We didn’t get to race here last year, and we really missed it.  These fans energize you.  We definitely missed that during the pandemic.” 

For Torrence, who has a chance to become just the eighth to sweep the Western Swing, winning never gets old. 

“Winning will cure everything. It might even cure cancer,” Torrence, who actually survived a bout with Hodgkin’s lymphoma as a teenager, said. “You feel so good when you win. It’s just an unbelievable feeling. 

“And to have this success on the mountain,” he said, “is even better.” 

About the only thing all weekend that didn’t seem better at the time for Torrence was Brittany Force taking the No. 1 qualifying position from him during the last session Saturday night. Upon reflection Sunday, Torrence said, “It was probably better to be second than it was first today.” 

After eliminating Rob Passey, he earned a second-round bye that sent him into the semifinals, where he beat Mike Salinas to advance to his 68th final round. 

“So just an unbelievable race day and set-up. Can’t give enough credit to the Capco Boys. They gave me the race car,” Torrence, who’s seeking a fourth consecutive championship, said. 

He’s not one to calculate his accomplishments, at least not right now: “You don’t look at all that stuff. That’s what you do at the end of a career, when you’re done. You can’t plow the field looking behind you. You got to look ahead.” 

He didn’t allude to it, but surely as he shared the winners circle with Matt Hagan (Funny Car) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle), Torrence had to be thinking that his big, cushy points lead would be reduced to merely 20 following the U.S. Nationals in a month and a half, by the end of the next five races, thanks to Countdown to the Championship rules. 

But for Sunday, he was just happy to escape any beginner’s luck that Haas might have had. After watching Haas stir up memories of true rookie Josh Hart’s Gatornationals victory to open the season, Torrence had to be taking notice of the Pleasant View, Tenn., racer’s march to the showdown past some pretty stout racers. 

“Hat’s off to him. They did a great job,” he said of Haas and the Terry Totten-led Vita C/Strutmasters Dragster crew. “I was proud for that whole team. Lot of respect for ’em. “I was pulling for him all day, and I know there were a lot of people hoping he could get past us in the final. That’s a guy with a lot of heart, and I hope I get to race him a lot more. I have complete respect for that whole Totten team.  It was fun to watch them.” 

Just the same, Torrence didn’t want Hass’ first victory to come against him. He said he had some concerns as they line up at the Christmas Tree. “Yeah, for certain,” Torrence said. “They’re doing a great job, but he’s also got that little bit of luck with him. Luck’s harder to beat than anything. But these Capco Boys are just so bad to the bone. 

“Those guys were having one of those races where it’s just your day and, after they got past Clay [Millican], I was a little concerned.  But [tuner] Richard Hogan and [car chief] Bobby Lagana, my whole team, they just did what they do, and fortunately I was able to do my job, too.” 

As the Camping World Drag Racing Series tour moves west for California races at Sonoma and Pomona, he said he’s “looking forward to every other race” the NHRA puts on the schedule. 

So is Brittany Force, who is developing a rivalry with Torrence. He has defeated her in finals at Charlotte and Norwalk, and she just aced him out of the No. 1 starting spot at Denver with the track elapsed-time record. After qualifying No. 1 and setting low E.T. and top speed of the meet, she bowed out Sunday in the second round but said she was “leaving Mile-High Nationals in third and on a high note. 

“This Monster Energy team picked up another No. 1 qualifier, a track record, and six qualifying bonus points. We hit our marks, our numbers. The team did their job, I did my job, and the car did exactly what we wanted it to do. We just got beat,” Force said. “It was a great drag race for the fans.