On a Sunday on which the only two drivers ahead of him in the Mission Foods point standings both were ousted in the first round, Steve Torrence’s bid for a second consecutive NHRA tour victory ended in an excruciatingly close .008 of a second loss in the 36th DENSO Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway.
On the heels of an impressive first round conquest of No. 2 qualifier and track speed record-holder Clay Millican, the four-time Top Fuel World Champion lost in round two to eventual race winner Antron Brown in what was a virtual dead heat.
After driving his CAPCO Contractors entry to a winning first round time of 3.693 seconds, a welcome turnaround after four unimpressive qualifying attempts, the 41-year-old Texan stopped the timers in 3.747 seconds at 332.43 miles per hour in round two.
Brown’s time in the battle between drivers who, between them, have won seven world championships, was identical to the thousandth of a second. The difference at the finish was the winner’s .071-.079 starting line advantage.
“I wasn’t bad on the lights,” said a disappointed Torrence, “but Antron was better. That’s all it took. That’s how Top Fuel racing is right now. It’s that competitive every week. Today, it was set up for us with Doug (Kalitta) and Shawn (Langdon) both out in round one, but we didn’t get it done.”
If there was a silver lining, it was that the 55-time tour winner stayed third in the driver standings with just two races remaining before points are adjusted for the NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship.
Steve wasn’t the only Torrence frustrated in round two on Sunday. Dad Billy also was unable to advance after driving the second CAPCO Contractors Top Fuel Toyota to the quickest time of eliminations in the opening round (3.662 seconds at 335.40 mph). In the second, the CAPCO founder and CEO slowed to 4.059 at just 228.89 mph, losing to Brittany Force.
This story was originally published on July 29, 2024. 
