The all-Texas Top Fuel final round of the Lucas Oil NHRA Southern Nationals stirred up some passion in winner Steve Torrence before he squared off Sunday afternoon against Tony Schumacher.

He boasted that he’s the “real Texan” of the two: “He’s just a transplanted Yankee,” Torrence said of his rival. Then the conservative Torrence referred to the more liberal state capital: “He lives in a place that ain’t even Texas – he lives in Austin.”

He punctuated his flurry of friendly insults by landing a soft jab, needling Schumacher – the racer he beat at Atlanta for his first victory in 2012, back when Schumacher had recorded “just” 67 of his 83 victories. Atlanta Dragway is the only track Schumacher hadn’t mastered, and Torrence had some fun with that.

“He ain’t got it done yet,” Torrence said, “and he ain’t going to do it on my watch.”

Then Torrence backed up his talk in his third consecutive final-round appearance, earning his second straight victory. He covered the Commerce, Ga., 1,000-foot course in 3.745 seconds at 320.81 mph in the Capco Contractors Dragster, while Schumacher smoked the tires on his U.S. Army Dragster and wound up with a 4.061-second elapsed time at a 243.28-mph speed.

It was an anniversary, of sorts, for Kilgore, Texas, native Torrence, who emphasized the he beat Schumacher here “five years ago today” – pronouncing it “to-DAY.”

But he’s focused more on the future than the past or even the present.

“The race car I have now is the best race car I’ve ever had in my life,” Torrence said. “The thing goes out there and does exactly what they tell it to do. We struggled the first few races, but at Vegas [where he qualified No. 1] we kept our noses to the grindstone and found some stuff. We stayed Monday and tested, and the consistency has built on what we found there. And my driving is showing that I’m confident in it.”

And, to borrow a phrase from Schumacher, Torrence said, “I’m driving like a machine. [Crew chief] Richard Hogan is the key to that, along with Bobby Lagana, Justin Crosslin, Chris Martin, Mike Wingo, Cale Hood, Gary Pritchett and Taylor Gray. All those guys are my family. I’ll put that race team up against anybody out here. I’ve got a badass group of guys.”

He acknowledged that “it’s going to be a long season” but said he’s particularly proud of accomplishing what he has as an independent racer – one who has been able for two straight weeks to stop the Don Schumacher Racing powerhouse.

“We run this out of our pockets,” Torrence said after his second Atlanta victory and 10th in all. “That speaks volumes about what you can achieve with just hard work, dedication, and a lot of heart.”   

Using a play on the word “juggernaut,” Torrence said, “The Schumacher cars set the bar. They’ve had a jugger-knot on it, and I just untied the jugger-knot. I’m winning races and hurting feelings – and that’s what I’m here to do.”

He has won 15 of his 20 elimination rounds so far this season, and he climbed a position in the standings. He moved from fourth to third, 35 points behind No. 2 Schumacher. Torrence advanced Sunday to his third consecutive final-round appearance for the first time in his Top Fuel career by defeating Smax Smith, Shawn Langdon, and Leah Pritchett. And in all but his semifinal-round performance, Torrence ran faster than the career-best E.T. he brought here, and that semifinal clocking was a mere four-thousandths of a second slower.

Torrence joined L.E. Tonglet (Pro Stock Motorcycle), Bo Butner (Pro Stock), and Ron Capps (Funny Car) in the winners circle.     

Schumacher had won from the No. 1 starting spot in March at Gainesville and Sunday was trying to win his 84th victory from the No. 1 starting position for the second time this year. He eliminated Brittany Force, Bob Vandergriff, and Doug Kalitta on the way to his 147th final-round appearance.

The eight-time series champion is 17-6 in eliminations and has reached two semifinals and four final rounds in seven events so far this year. His only blemish was a quarterfinal defeat at Royal Purple Raceway two weekends ago.

In spite of losing traction for the start of his run and shutting off his engine as he approached the finish line, Schumacher defended his U.S. Army Dragster, despite the fact “it started quivering pretty early and he was on a really good run.

“So that was it,” Schumacher said. “I tried to pedal it maybe once, maybe twice, but he was on a good run. But, otherwise, the car was running fine today. The round before, we beat him by 11-thousandths of a second. It’s all about timing, and that’s how this sport is. The first round, anybody else would’ve beaten me. When you get breaks, you get breaks. He made a great run. He made a good light and he made a good run and he won the race. It’s all good, and the big picture looks great. We’re going rounds and we’ve got a good U.S. Army car. There are a handful of good cars out there and we’re getting around some big boys. And we’re gaining back the ground we lost in the championship a few weeks ago.

Schumacher remains in second place, a mere 14 point behind his Don Schumacher racing colleague Pritchett as the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series reconvenes in two weeks at Topeka.

“We gained a little bit on Leah but not enough,” Schumacher said.

An oildown cost him 10 points. He said, “You hate to give those up, but it’s our job to keep the oil in the motor and not make mistakes. It’s on to Topeka.”

And Torrence had a maybe-not-so-comforting thought for his fellow Texan: “We call our car the Motel 6 Vision. We leave lights on.”