On a day on which eliminations were delayed for almost two hours when a small plane crashed into the pit area at In-N-Out Pomona Dragstrip, Steve Torrence’s long shot bid for a fifth Top Fuel World Championship came to an abrupt end in the first round of Sunday’s season-ending 59th In-N-Out Burger Finals.
The No. 2 qualifier after guiding his CAPCO Contractors Top Fuel Toyota to a time of 3.644 seconds, the third quickest run of his pro career, Torrence couldn’t maintain that pace on Sunday and fell in round one to one of his own CAPCO boys, clutch tech Gary Pritchett.
Pritchett, making his first Top Fuel start as a driver, won in 3.715 seconds at 333.91 miles per hour after Torrence’s 11,000 horsepower Toyota lost traction and slowed to 5.414 seconds at only 175 mph.
It was an unexpected result for the 41-year-old Texas rancher and businessman who fell to No. 7 in the final Mission Foods driver standings.
“Very disappointing way to end it,” he said. “We had a really good car. I don’t know what happened. I know the two-hour delay changed the conditions, but there still were a lot of teams that got down the racetrack. Unfortunately, we weren’t one of them.
“So proud of the job Gary did in his first Top Fuel race; just wish he hadn’t done it against us.”
The outcome was no better for CAPCO founder and CEO Billy Torrence, driver of the second of the Team Torrence dragsters.
An eight-time pro tour winner who also has two wins in Super Comp, the elder Torrence grabbed a .025 of a second starting line advantage against former NASCAR champion Tony Stewart with whom he was battling for 10th place in the driver standings. Unfortunately, he couldn’t sustain it and lost in in 3.949 seconds, finishing 11th in points.
This story was originally published on November 18, 2024. 
