A resurgent Steve Torrence beat Doug Kalitta and Shawn Langdon in back-to-back races Saturday to win the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Top Fuel Challenge in advance of Sunday’s 34th FLAV-R-PAC Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways.
It was the 40-year-old Texan’s first win in the #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, in which the semifinalists from the previous tour event compete for cash and bonus points as part of the Saturday qualifying program. Times posted in the Challenge also apply toward qualifying.
A 53-time NHRA tour winner, Torrence had not reached the finals in three previous #2Fast2Tasty appearances this season. He becomes just the third Top Fuel winner this season, joining Kalitta and Justin Ashley.
A four-time Top Fuel World Champion and the only driver in any discipline to sweep the six races in the Countdown to the Championship (2018), Torrence will start his CAPCO Contractors dragster from the No. 4 qualifying position in Sunday’s FLAV-R-PAC event after recording a best of 3.764 seconds at 327.09 miles per hour. He will oppose Josh Hart in the first round in an event he has not won since 2012.
This story was originally published on July 23, 2023. 
