Steve Torrence Wins 5th Straight Top Fuel Final To Secure 2018 Top Fuel Championship

After amassing a huge points lead though the 2017 “regular season”, Steve Torrence struggled in the Countdown to the Championship and watched the world championship he’d dreamed about since he was a little boy quite literally slip from his grasp. After suffering a devastating crash in Dallas, the CAPCO boys just couldn’t quite get back on track to the form that they’d shown throughout the first three quarters of the season and Brittany Force slipped in and swiped the title.

While many racers would have let such a heartbreaking finish dampen their spirit, the fiery Texas native simply regrouped and refocused his team on the ultimate goal and rolled into 2018 determined to ride off into the sunset with the world title in hand. Throughout the season, the team was quite literally a force to be reckoned with, winning nearly 1/3rd of the regular season’s 18 races and entering the Countdown with the points lead for the second straight season.

This time, however, there would be no stumble. There would be no struggle. In fact, through 5 of 6 countdown races, there hasn’t even been a round loss. Ratcheting up their performance and redefining the word “domination”, Torrence and his crew have taken all five of the countdown races and as of his semifinal round win in Vegas yesterday, Steve Torrence is officially locked to win the 2018 world championship.

Only one other driver in the history of the class has won 5 races in a row, and he just happens to be the winningest driver in top fuel history, Tony Schumacher. Since the NHRA went to the Countdown format, nobody has won 5 straight races in the countdown, and to be honest, the odds are in Torrence’s favor to sweep all six with a win next weekend at the Auto Club NHRA Finals in Pomona.

Steve and company also become the first independent team to win the championship since Larry Dixon won the title in 2003 behind the wheel of Don Prudhomme’s car a decade and a half ago, breaking the stranglehold on the class held by multi-car entities. While Torrence does field a second car driven by his father Billy, both cars are funded by CAPCO, the Torrence family’s successful contracting business.

We send our congratulations to Steve, his parents Billy and Mama T, crew chief Richard Hogan, assistant crew chief Bob Lagana, clutch guru, all around great guy and close friend Gary Pritchett and the entire CAPCO team on their stellar performance in 2018 and their first NHRA Top Fuel World Championship!

 

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