60 year Old Billy Torrence Gets First Career Win

It’s been a heck of a start to the 2018 season for The CAPCO racing team, and things just keep getting better. The team, anchored by points leader Steve Torrence, has build a sizable lead in the top fuel points chase heading into the US Nationals, which Steve won last year.

However, the focus today is not on Steve, but instead on his father and the driver of the #2 Team CAPCO car, Billy. Kicking off eliminations at this weekend’s Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway in Minnesota as the #1 qualifier for the first time in his career, Billy opened the day with a first and would end it with another first.

After a relatively easy first round win against #10 runner Terry Totten, Torrence had a date with Scott Palmer, who gave Torrence all he wanted in round 2. Torrence took a small lead at the starting line and drove slightly farther ahead by the 1,000 foot cone to take the win with a 3.781 at 320 MPH to Palmers game, but losing, 3.798 at 324 MPH.

At this point, #2 qualifier Steve was also still in the running on the other side of the ladder, keeping alive the distinct possibility of a father-son matchup in the finals, but both Torrences had some work left to do before that could happen. Billy handled his opponent in the semifinals when he used a solid 3.756 at over 330 MPH to take out Mike Salinas’ 3.774 at 324 MPH.

Steve would be the one who would falter when his nearly identical 3.753 at 330 MPH would be just inches behind the 3.733 at 323 MPH posted by Seattle winner and Team Speed Society Racing campaigner Antron Brown, ending the hopes of an all-Torrence final round.

Brown and Billy, both known for putting up consistently quick reaction times, left almost simultaneously, with Torrence taking an .008 advantage away from the starting line. Antron would erase five of those thousandths over the course of the next 1,000 feet, meaning the two were separated by just three thousandths of a second at the finish line. The scoreboard told the tale: Brown’s 3.751 at 329.10 came up just inches behind Billy’s 3.756 at 329.99 MPH. This will go down as one of the best races of the season and a great cap to a day littered with holeshot wins. Congratulations to the CAPCO Boys and Billy on his first career win. Something tells me it won’t be all that long before we see him back in the Winner’s Circle.