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Qualifying results from the Thunder Valley Nationals
Steve Torrence is having the kind of season he once dreamed of.
The driver of the CAPCO Top Fuel dragster drove his way to his sixth No. 1 qualifying effort as his 3.745 ET withstood two qualifying sessions at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway.
Also holding onto their No. 1 positions were Ron Capps (Funny Car) and Jason Line (Pro Stock).
Torrence has won twice in four final rounds this season as well, hoping for a back-to-back victory after winning last weekend in Englishtown, NJ.
“It feels great and I did win here a few years ago.
“It’s always Father’s Day when we race and this year I have my dad with me so that adds a lot to it,” said Torrence, who won at Bristol in 2013. “To be able to share success with him while he’s here, with the way the car is running and with the team, the moral is at an all-time high. We’re going to try to repeat and go all the way.”
Capps is on the cusp of drag racing history, as he can tie mentor/former employer Don “The Snake” Prudhomme for 11th place on the all-time wins list at 49 with a Sunday win.
"You think back, and I was once that kid at the Rancho Bakersfield Cafe, who got yelled at by him for asking for an autograph while he was eating his pancakes," Capps remembered. "I was just a six-year-old who idolized, and it just feels unbelievable to be mentioned in this manner."
In Pro Stock, Line slapped the rest of the field even harder as he stepped in the final session with a 6.652 at 208.01 mph to earn his fourth consecutive No. 1 qualifier and sixth of the year.
Line now has 47 top qualifying performances to his credit.
“I wasn’t expecting to run that quick, so that was a really good run,” said Line. “I was pretty excited about that. It’s a lot of fun. This is not going to last forever and I’ll spare you of the ‘They’re Gaining on Us’ speech, but that was a really good run. We were missing something on the previous runs and I think we figured out why. It feels good and we should have three really fast (Ken Black Racing) hot rods for tomorrow.”
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Bobby Bennett is the Publisher/Editor of CompetitionPlus.com, a leading independent online drag racing magazine, since 1999. For the latest in dragster news worldwide, visit www.competitionplus.com or follow on Twitter @competitionplus
