2 years ago
278
Top Fuel points person Steve Torrence, center, stands adjacent to his 11,000 horsepower dragster successful the pits anterior to the opening circular of qualifying astatine the 56th yearly NHRA Finals connected Friday astatine Auto Club Raceway successful Pomona. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Funny Car operator Robert Hight sits successful his blistery rod anterior arsenic helium is pushed towards the starting enactment during the opening circular of nitro qualifying astatine the 56th yearly NHRA Finals astatine Pomona Raceway Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. Hight is the provisional apical qualifier. Pro qualifying continues Saturday with eliminations opening astatine 10 a.m. Sunday morning. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Top Fuel operator Antron Brown heads down way during the opening circular of nitro qualifying astatine the 56th yearly NHRA Finals astatine Pomona Raceway Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. Pro qualifying continues Saturday with eliminations opening astatine 10 a.m. Sunday morning. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Funny Car operator John Force heads down way during the opening circular of nitro qualifying astatine the 56th yearly NHRA Finals astatine Pomona Raceway Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. Pro qualifying continues Saturday with eliminations opening astatine 10 a.m. Sunday morning. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Funny Car operator John Force (right) on with his girl Brittany Force (center) talk with contention fans successful the staging lanes anterior to the opening circular of nitro qualifying astatine the 56th yearly NHRA Finals astatine Pomona Raceway Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. Pro qualifying continues Saturday with eliminations opening astatine 10 a.m. Sunday morning. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Funny Car operator Matt Hagan warms up his blistery rod successful the pits anterior to the opening circular of qualifying astatine the 56th yearly NHRA Finals astatine Pomona Raceway Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. Pro qualifying continues Saturday with eliminations opening astatine 10 a.m. Sunday morning. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Funny Car drivers Cruz Pedregon (near lane) and J.R. Todd (far lane) caput down way during the opening circular of nitro qualifying astatine the 56th yearly NHRA Finals astatine Pomona Raceway Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. Pro qualifying continues Saturday with eliminations opening astatine 10 a.m. Sunday morning. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Gary Pritchett, a subordinate of Steve Torrence’s Top Fuel team, pushes Torrence’s 11,000hp dragster into its pit anterior to qualifying astatine the 56th yearly NHRA Finals astatine Pomona Raceway Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Top Fuel points person Steve Torrence stands adjacent to his 11,000hp dragster successful the pits anterior to the opening circular of qualifying astatine the 56th yearly NHRA Finals astatine Pomona Raceway Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. Pro qualifying continues Saturday with eliminations opening astatine 10 a.m. Sunday morning. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Race fans Darren Cascaril, left, 15, and Preston Wilkin, right, 14, some from Canyon Lake, propulsion their souvenir racing tires done the pits looking for autographs during the 56th yearly NHRA Finals astatine Pomona Raceway Friday, Nov. 12, 2021.(Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Top Fuel points person Steve Torrence heads down way during the opening circular of nitro qualifying astatine the 56th yearly NHRA Finals astatine Pomona Raceway Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. Pro qualifying continues Saturday with eliminations opening astatine 10 a.m. Sunday morning. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Top Fuel operator Antron Brown heads down way during the opening circular of nitro qualifying astatine the 56th yearly NHRA Finals astatine Pomona Raceway Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. Pro qualifying continues Saturday with eliminations opening astatine 10 a.m. Sunday morning. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Top Fuel points person Steve Torrence heads down the way during the opening circular of qualifying astatine the 56th yearly NHRA Finals connected Friday astatine Auto Club Raceway successful Pomona. Torrence had the second-fastest qualifying clip and is closing successful connected his 4th consecutive play title. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Funny Car points person Ron Capps (near lane) heads down way against his teammate, and 2nd successful the points, Matt Hagan during the opening circular of nitro qualifying astatine the 56th yearly NHRA Finals astatine Pomona Raceway Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. Pro qualifying continues Saturday with eliminations opening astatine 10 a.m. Sunday morning. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Top Fuel operator Leah Pruett heads down way during the opening circular of nitro qualifying astatine the 56th yearly NHRA Finals astatine Pomona Raceway Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. Pro qualifying continues Saturday with eliminations opening astatine 10 a.m. Sunday morning. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Top Fuel points person Steve Torrence heads down way during the opening circular of nitro qualifying astatine the 56th yearly NHRA Finals astatine Pomona Raceway Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. Pro qualifying continues Saturday with eliminations opening astatine 10 a.m. Sunday morning. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Top Fuel operator Antron Brown heads down way during the opening circular of nitro qualifying astatine the 56th yearly NHRA Finals astatine Pomona Raceway Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. Pro qualifying continues Saturday with eliminations opening astatine 10 a.m. Sunday morning. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
“Big” Jim Dunn walks retired of the mode arsenic his Funny Car operator Jim Campbell does his burnout during the opening circular of nitro qualifying astatine the 56th yearly NHRA Finals astatine Pomona Raceway Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. Pro qualifying continues Saturday with eliminations opening astatine 10 a.m. Sunday morning. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Funny Car operator J.R. Todd speaks with a unit subordinate anterior to the opening circular of nitro qualifying astatine the 56th yearly NHRA Finals astatine Pomona Raceway Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. Pro qualifying continues Saturday with eliminations opening astatine 10 a.m. Sunday morning. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Funny Car operator Robert Hight sits successful his blistery rod anterior arsenic helium is pushed towards the starting enactment during the opening circular of nitro qualifying astatine the 56th yearly NHRA Finals astatine Pomona Raceway Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. Hight is the provisional apical qualifier. Pro qualifying continues Saturday with eliminations opening astatine 10 a.m. Sunday morning. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Top Fuel points person Steve Torrence stands successful his hauler successful the pits anterior to the opening circular of qualifying astatine the 56th yearly NHRA Finals astatine Pomona Raceway Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. Pro qualifying continues Saturday with eliminations opening astatine 10 a.m. Sunday morning. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Race instrumentality Curtis Booth, from Little Rock, Arkansas, holds his ears arsenic helium stands down the Funny Car of Matt Hagan arsenic helium warms up the 11,000hp nitromethane burning blistery rod anterior to the opening circular of qualifying astatine the 56th yearly NHRA Finals astatine Pomona Raceway Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. Pro qualifying continues Saturday with eliminations opening astatine 10 a.m. Sunday morning. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Top Fuel points person Steve Torrence (right) stands adjacent to his 11,000hp dragster successful the pits anterior to the opening circular of qualifying astatine the 56th yearly NHRA Finals astatine Pomona Raceway Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. Pro qualifying continues Saturday with eliminations opening astatine 10 a.m. Sunday morning. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Race fans ticker from nitro haze arsenic Funny Car operator Alex Miladinovich warms up his 11,000hp blistery anterior to the opening circular of qualifying astatine the 56th yearly NHRA Finals astatine Pomona Raceway Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. Pro qualifying continues Saturday with eliminations opening astatine 10 a.m. Sunday morning. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Funny Car operator Matt Hagan takes disconnected his state disguise aft warming up his blistery rod successful the pits anterior to the opening circular of qualifying astatine the 56th yearly NHRA Finals astatine Pomona Raceway Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. Pro qualifying continues Saturday with eliminations opening astatine 10 a.m. Sunday morning. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Top Fuel points person Steve Torrence stands successful his hauler successful the pits arsenic helium watches his unit enactment connected his 11,000hp dragster anterior to the opening circular of qualifying astatine the 56th yearly NHRA Finals astatine Pomona Raceway Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. Pro qualifying continues Saturday with eliminations opening astatine 10 a.m. Sunday morning. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Top Fuel points person Steve Torrence (center) stands adjacent to his 11,000hp dragster successful the pits anterior to the opening circular of qualifying astatine the 56th yearly NHRA Finals astatine Pomona Raceway Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. Pro qualifying continues Saturday with eliminations opening astatine 10 a.m. Sunday morning. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Top Fuel points person Steve Torrence stands successful his hauler successful the pits anterior to the opening circular of qualifying astatine the 56th yearly NHRA Finals astatine Pomona Raceway Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. Pro qualifying continues Saturday with eliminations opening astatine 10 a.m. Sunday morning. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
A Super Gas rival heads towards the staging for sportsman eliminations during the 56th yearly NHRA Finals astatine Pomona Raceway Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Super Gas drivers beryllium successful the staging lanes arsenic they hold for the 2nd circular of sportsman eliminations to statesman during the 56th yearly NHRA Finals astatine Pomona Raceway Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Race fans Darren Cascaril, left, 15, and Preston Wilkin, right, 14, some from Canyon Lake, propulsion their souvenir racing tires done the pits looking for autographs during the 56th yearly NHRA Finals astatine Pomona Raceway Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Super Gas operator Dave Archambault, from Calgary, sits successful his blistery successful the staging lanes arsenic helium waits for the 2nd circular of sportsman eliminations to statesman during the 56th yearly NHRA Finals astatine Pomona Raceway Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. Pro qualifying continues Saturday with eliminations opening astatine 10 a.m. Sunday morning. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Top Fuel fable Shirley Muldowney, left, speaks with Gary Park from Simi Valley successful the pits during the 56th yearly NHRA Finals astatine Pomona Raceway Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
A Super Gas operator does his burnout during the 2nd circular of sportsman eliminations astatine the 56th yearly NHRA Finals astatine Pomona Raceway Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
POMONA – Steve Torrence began his resistance racing vocation successful 2005 successful the Top Alcohol class, the NHRA’s triple-A league. After moving up to Top Fuel successful 2010 and finishing a respectable eighth, helium sought proposal from kingmaker Don Schumacher, whose multi-car squad has dominated the athletics for overmuch of the past 2 decades.
Don Schumacher Racing started retired arsenic a one-car squad successful 1998. That 1 car was driven by Don’s lad Tony. The squad has since had arsenic galore arsenic 8 cars successful the nitro Top Fuel and Funny Car classes. Don Schumacher’s proposal to a past 28-year-old Torrence was, basically, you can’t vie arsenic a single-car team.
Well, conjecture what? Steve Torrence is dominating arsenic a single-car team. Technically, the squad has 2 cars, since begetter Billy Torrence is present besides competing and not doing poorly himself. It is much of a one-family operation, based successful Kilgore, Texas.
Torrence inched person to a historical 4th consecutive NHRA Top Fuel play title during the lone circular of qualifying Friday evening astatine the NHRA Finals presently taking spot astatine Auto Club Raceway.
Torrence had the second-fastest qualifying clip portion his closest competitor, Brittany Force, burned her tires halfway down the 1,000-foot way and qualified 11th. Billy Torrence, who is 3rd successful the play standings, was the third-fastest qualifier Friday.
Steve Torrence gained 3 points connected Force and present leads by 108. Mike Salinas had the apical clip successful Top Fuel qualifying connected Friday with an elapsed clip of 3.694 seconds and a apical velocity of 328.78 mph.
In Funny Car competition, Ron Capps extended his pb implicit his closest competitor, Matt Hagan, by qualifying second. Hagan qualified 12th and present trails Capps by 61 points. The apical Funny Car qualifier Friday was Robert Hight astatine 3.894 seconds and 330.55 mph.
Qualifying continues Saturday with 2 rounds successful Funny Car and Top Fuel, opening astatine 12:30 p.m. Other qualifying begins astatine 10:30 a.m. Elimination rounds connected Sunday statesman astatine 10 a.m., 2 hours aft the way opens.
After Friday’s session, Steve Torrence relaxed successful his pit with his family, which included his begetter Billy, his parent Kay, and woman Natalie Jahnke, a autochthonal of Rancho Cucamonga and a La Verne University graduate. Also there, dependable asleep, was Haven Charli Torrence, calved April 7 of this year. She is the archetypal kid for Steve and Natalie, who person been unneurotic since 2017 and were joined connected May 9, 2020.
Torrence, asked astir that speech with Don Schumacher, said, “I didn’t instrumentality it arsenic being malicious oregon thing similar that. I took it arsenic a challenge.”
Torrence, present 38, has much than met the challenge. If, arsenic expected, helium claims the 2021 Top Fuel title, helium volition travel wrong 2 of the NHRA grounds of six consecutive play titles, held by Tony Schumacher.
“Everyone connected our squad works highly hard,” Torrence said.
That, helium says, is the cardinal crushed for his success. And helium sets a bully example. Between races, helium works arsenic a salesman for the family’s drilling company, Capco Contractors, which is besides his large sponsor.
“I was astatine enactment yesterday earlier coming retired here,” helium said, “and travel Monday, I’ll beryllium backmost astatine work.”
And astir assuredly possessing different NHRA title.
English (US) ·