Top Fuel racer Steve Torrence reassured everyone this entire Camping World Drag Racing Series season that he hadn’t fallen on his lips suddenly, that he and his Capco Contractors Dragster team simply were taking time to experiment with different parts and set-ups and approaches to prepare for When It Counts. 

But even he knew he had to provide some evidence – if only to convince himself that he would win again. 

Torrence could have had a baby sibling for his 16-month-old daughter Haven Charli in the time it took since his previous victory. Just like Bob Tasca III – with whom Torrence shared the winners circle at the Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd, Minn., Sunday – Torrence had won last November – nine months ago – in the series finale at Pomona, Calif. Both he and Tasca had planned to ride that momentum into at least a comfortable start to the 2022 season. But both of them have had to rely on their own expertise as veteran drivers and team leaders and on their tuners’ experience. 

Tasca got his Motorcraft/QuickLane Ford Mustang Funny Car program turned around on the Western Swing, but for Torrence, it took a few races longer. 

And Torrence wasn’t too proud Sunday after defeating Tony Schumacher in the final round Sunday for that first 2022 victory to admit that “It’s difficult,” even when he had “all the faith in the world in these Capco Boys.” 

He said, “We didn’t forget how to win, but dang, it sure felt like it. 

“We knew that if we kept putting ourselves in position that eventually we’d get another one of these little gold men to take back home to Kilgore (Texas),” Torrence said, referring to his latest trophy. It’s amazing.  You get used to winning and then you have a year like this one and it puts everything in perspective.  When you’ve had the success and the dominance that we’ve had, it’s difficult to not have that [feeling]. But you’ve just got to dig through it. When we don’t win and everybody’s asking us, ‘What’s wrong?’ and ‘What’s happened?’ it’s difficult. 

“It’s not easy to win out here. It’s hard, but there’s nobody I’d rather be fighting the battle with than these Capco boys.  They stuck with it and now it looks like maybe we’re peaking at just the right time,” he said.  

“Maybe we’re getting our crap together at the right time, because we’re charging for that No. 5 [championship]. I can’t wait to get into the Countdown and see if we can hurt some feelings.  It’s gonna be fun,” Torrence said. “That Capco Dragster, it’s coming. We’re marching.” 

Torrence traded places in the standings with Justin Ashley, moving into third place with his winning 3.866-second elapsed time at 322.04 mph on the 1,000-foot Brainerd International Raceway course. 

And he did it impressively, eliminating No. 2-ranked Mike Salinas for openers, then buddy Antron Brown as a move more desperate than vengeful for the Topeka result the week before, then his points-leader nemesis Brittany Force to advance to his fourth final of the season.  

With that, he trimmed semifinal finisher Force’s lead from 162 points to 130 with one more race remaining before the sanctioning body erases everyone’s achievements and separates the top 10 racers in 10-point increments (except the leader, who has a 20-point head start). 

“That is the car to beat,” Torrence said of Force’s Monster Energy Dragster. “They’ve not only kicked our butts but everybody else’s.” 

Mike Salinas still is second in the standings, but his first-round loss meant his margin increased from just 31 points off the pace to 94. 

Torrence’s 52nd overall victory tied him with retired five-time champion Joe Amato for fourth on the all-time Top Fuel victories leaderboard.  

Schumacher, though denied his 87th victory and second in three races, also gained ground in the standings. Despite some messy mechanical problems along the way, he beat the equally formidable lineup of Doug Kalitta, Josh Hart, and Justin Ashley and leapfrogged Kalitta into eighth place. 

Schumacher got the jump on the starting line and was ahead until late in the run. He drove the Okuma/Skag/Maynard Family Dragster to a 3.942-second elapsed time and 286.50-mph speed in his fifth meeting this year with Torrence. 

Torrence is a native Texan from Kilgore, and Schumacher a Chicago transplant to Austin. And Torrence quipped in the shutdown area Sunday as Schumacher congratulated him that “we came all the way as far north as we can get to have two Texas boys show up in the final. 

“I enjoy racing Tony the most. He makes you bring out you’re a Game every time. He’s a self-proclaimed machine, but he is the machine – he does the same thing time and time again. He’s good because he’s been in the situation so many times. He’s been in the money round. He’s been in the championship round and all of it. The more experience you get and the more comfortable you get, the better you do. I like to race him. I got my first win against him in 2012, in Atlanta.”     

 It was the ninth time Torrence had the upper hand in 11 final-round meetings with the eight-time champion. 

What this really was Sunday was a treat for the fans: not a pretty side-by-side display but another hard-fought battle to the end of the day between two of the most dominant drivers in Top Fuel history. The fact that both have overcome their share of struggles made the sub-four-second blast that much more enriching. For Torrence, it ended the second-longest victory drought of his pro career and gave him back-to-back success at Brainerd International Raceway. 

In only his fourth start this season, Billy Torrence dropped a quarterfinal bout with Force. But son Steve’s victory marked the third in the past four Brainerd races for Team Capco. Billy Torrence won here in 2018. In spite of his early exit Sunday, Billy Torrence recorded his 100th Top Fuel elimination-round victory with his opening-round defeat of Austin Prock.

The Camping World Drag Racing Series heads to Indianapolis for the Sept. 1-5 Dodge Power Brokers U.S. Nationals. 

The top 10 order became slightly scrambled Sunday. Josh Hart remains in fifth place, with Leah Pruett and Shawn Langdon tied for sixth. Schumacher is eighth and Kalitta nine. Antron Brown hangs onto the 10th spot, and he helped keep No. 11 Clay Millican at bay by beating him in the opening round Sunday. Prock’s loss keeps him out of the top 10, at least for now. He’s tied for 11th with Millican.   

The biggest twist in the calculations will come at Indianapolis. There, at the conclusion of the race, the sanctioning body will erase everyone’s achievements and separate the top 10 racers in 10-point increments (except the leader, who has a 20-point head start). 

The race also awards points and a half, both for qualifying bonus points, qualifying order, and eliminations results. At every other regular-season race, the winner earns 100 points, the runner-up 80, semifinal finisher 60, second-round finisher 40, and first-round finisher 20. At the U.S. Nationals, the structure is 150-120-90-60-30. So that could realign the standings before the 10-point spacing takes place. (The sanctioning body does the same at the Finals at Pomona, Calif., in November, throwing more drama into the mix.) 

The Countdown will begin with the Sept. 16-18 Pep Boys Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway at Reading, Pa.