Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Torrence aiming for semifinals – or better – at Arizona Nationals

(Photo by Steve Torrence PR)


When it’s time to go racing at Firebird Raceway, Steve Torrence will certainly say, “come on, let’s go!”

The time is almost here.  Torrence will be there on Friday when NHRA’s Arizona Nationals begin a three-day run at the track in Chandler, Ariz., near Phoenix.  His enthusiasm for the event is prompted by his success on the sometimes-tricky asphalt.  He reached the semifinals there in his two previous races.

“We’d like to carry on our ‘tradition’ this weekend . . . but we want to win at least one more round,” he said.  “Our car seems to run well there.” 

Torrence began the 2012 Full Throttle Series last weekend at the Winternationals in Pomona, Calif. by qualifying the Torrence Racing/Capco Contractors Inc. Top Fuel dragster in the No. 9 position (3.850 seconds at 314.17).  

He lost in the first round when Shawn Langdon’s reaction time of .010- second – the quickest of eliminations – put him into the lead.  Torrence mashed the throttle and his car thundered down the track on its best run of the weekend, 3.820 seconds at a career topping 320.28 mph, but he couldn’t make up the difference on the 1,000-foot run.  Langdon was timed in 3.827 seconds at 322.81.

“I was happy with the car’s performance and I think we have some momentum going into Phoenix,” he said.”

Unlike Pomona, where the team didn’t compete last season, crew chief Richard Hogan has the important tuning information from their October visit to Firebird Raceway.

“This is going to a tough year in Top Fuel,” Torrence predicted.  “There were a lot of cars running good at Pomona.  We need to step up our program . . . and this would be a great place to start.”

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