NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Steve Torrence continued his Indy magic, defeating Brittany Force in a rematch of last year’s U.S. Nationals Top Fuel final to win the inaugural Pep Boys NHRA Top Fuel Allstar Callout and the $80,000 payout.

Torrence’s Capco Contractors dragster steamed to a 3.692 to edge Force’s 3.704 for his second Top Fuel specialty-event win, having also won the Traxxas Shootout in Indy in 2017. It’s been a remarkable turnaround for the four-time world champ’s team, who scored their first win of the season just two weeks ago in Brained –- also defeating Force in the final -– after a season spent working on a new tune-up combination.

“First, tons of respect for Brittany Force and that team because they've been bad to the bone, but them Capco boys have been bad to the bone for five years,” said Torrence. “We didn't forget what we was doing; we were struggling a little bit, but you gotta persevere and stay with the boys who brought you there. I'll tell you what, we're standing proud. We don’t look stupid now because we're walking away with the cash.."

Although Force lost the Callout final, her 3.704 did qualify her No. 4 for the U.S.Nationals field after two tough qualifying passes to start the event. Torrence’s 3.69 puts him No. 2 in the field.

"You know Brittany's a double-edged sword. She's getting more consistent and more of a threat on the Tree through every race. I will tell you that I became a little bit nervous when I saw Justin [Ashley] go 3.67 in the right lane. And know what [Force crew chief David Grubnic] is capable of. It definitely made you think, 'OK, what if they go throw a .66 down? Are we going to have enough? Are we going to get there because even though they hadn't made it down, they can.- And eventually, that tune-up's gonna stick to the track, and whether he figures it out or just comes to him, I mean, they're dangerous. It didn't give me any confidence that they hadn't been down the track and it gave me a little less confidence that the car in front of them went .67."

The conclusion was a long time coming as the first round of the Callout took place in March in Florida but was rained out and the final two rounds were completed at Indy.

After beating Leah Pruett in round one in Gainesville, Torrence defeated Justin Ashley in the semifinals in Indy with a 3.701 that also gave him the qualifying lead. Torrence, who was late in the Tree qualifying alongside Ashley Friday night, did not make that mistake again, drilling one o the sport’s best leavers, .037 to .041 and then racing to the win over Ashley’s 3.721.

Force, who had low e.t. of the first round in Gainesville with a 3.684 victory over Antron Brown, got the lone semifinal callout and picked Mike Salinas. It turned out to be a good call as Salinas was the only one of the three semifinalists that her mechanically troubled 4.01 could have beaten after his Pep Boys-backed dragster went up in smoke after a .030 to .076 holeshot.