Photos Courtesy of NHRA Media
As the stars of the NHRA Camping World Series rolled into California’s wine country, one driver locked his rightful place into the 2021 Countdown to the Championship. Despite struggling during Friday’s qualifying session, Steve Torrence and his entire Torrence Racing team finally raced to the number two qualifying spot with an all-new car and an all-new clutch setup. After finding his rhythm, Torrence and his hard-working team would continue to blow away the competition until finding themselves in the sixth final round of this season. Regardless of his recent back-to-back victories, the current points leader admitted that he was a bit antsy as he lined up alongside femme fatale Leah Pruett for Sunday’s final pass. Regardless of this nervous energy, Torrence took down Pruett with a 3.757-second run at 327.98 MPH for his sixth season victory, which also locked the King of Top Fuel and three-time defending series champion into this season’s Countdown to the Championship.
“I know it is strange to say that this win was any different than my other wins this season, but this victory was actually pretty exciting because I did everything possible to screw that final round up,” said Torrence. “Fortunately, I am blessed to have these Capco boys who still made it possible to have one heck of a final pass. It is so much fun racing here, and we have still got the hopes alive to go sweep the Western Swing, so I am really excited to continue on this streak.”
Funny Car
While Steve Torrence and Torrence Racing were the talk of the race weekend at Sonoma, Robert Hight also left fans shocked after taking down Don Schumacher’s most impressive driver this season – Matt Hagan – in Sunday’s final round. Although Hight and his John Force Racing team have attempted to find the consistency and confidence that they need to earn a victory this season, it wasn’t until the driver who said that he “never thought I’d ever get a chance to drive one of these cars” lined up against three former world champions that he would find the spark that he needed to take home a Wally. As Hight and his JFR team continued to take down the competition during Sunday’s final rounds, it was his nemesis, Matt Hagan, that this team was sure would stop their domination. Thanks to a final pass of 3.971-seconds at 322.50 mph in his Chevrolet Camaro SS, Hight and his team found the consistency his team has been chasing and heads into Pomona with a new velocity.
“It is funny because I never thought that I would have the opportunity to drive for John Force and now 26 years later I’m leaving Sonoma with a Funny Car Wally,” said Hight. “We want to go into the Countdown number one, and I don’t see that as an issue now. We head to Auto Club Raceway next weekend, and it is going to be a bit different than the February Winternationals. Hopefully, we can take this momentous win and use it to empower us for continued success this season.”
Pro Stock
As the experienced drivers continued to make all the news, a Pro Stock young gun also blew away the competition in Sonoma. After qualifying third on Friday night with a 6.548 second run at 209.69 mph, Aaron Stanfield continued to drive his way past the competition during Sunday’s final elimination rounds. Beginning with crushing Chris McGaha with a .026 reaction time and a quicker e.t. of 6.542-seconds to McGaha’s 6.557-second pass, Stanfield overcame Matt Hartford’s stellar reaction time with a quicker 6.549-second pass to Hartford’s 6.580-second attempt. In the semis, Stanfield matched up against Greg Anderson for a rematch of the 2021 Epping final. Again, Stanfield crushed Anderson on the Tree and while it looks like the KB car might reel in the Elite Motorsports machine, Anderson got out of the groove and had to lift.
In the final round, Stanfield met Dallas Glenn and the crowd witnessed a familiar KB Racing versus Elite Motorsports showdown, just with two of those teams’ newest foot soldiers Stanfield’s .020 reaction time wasn’t enough to match Glenn’s .016 but his e.t. and speed advantage carried Stanfield to the winner circle.
“I have got to thank everybody at Elite, Tim Freeman, Allan Lindsey, Rodney Crabtree, Casey Freeman, all the guys that worked so hard on this race car, the Janac Brothers and Jc3 Energy,” said Stanfield. “These guys let me get out here and do what I love, and I cannot thank them enough for this opportunity.”
The 2021 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season finishes up its Western Swing with the remake up of the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals Presented By ProtectTheHarvest.com (July 30-Aug 1). Stay tuned to RacingJunk.com for all your NHRA coverage!
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