Photos Courtesy of NHRA Media
Although a trip to the home of motorsports would give NHRA Camping World drag racing rookies a chance to shine, a journey to the Midwest would give three former champions a chance to rise back to the top. Three-time Top Fuel world champion Steve Torrence didn’t enjoy coughing up the points lead last week in Charlotte when he lost in the semifinals of the DeWalt NHRA Carolina Nationals, but letting go gave him a chance to reclaim his throne at this weekend’s NHRA Midwest Nationals. Seven days after he surrendered the top spot to rival Brittany Force, Torrence quickly addressed the issue by claiming his ninth win of the season in St. Louis after besting Mike Salinas and his Scrappers team in Sunday’s final elimination round. Torrence wouldn’t be the only driver to climb back to the top, after a setback, in St. Louis. After returning from a bout with COVID-19, three-time Funny Car world champion Matt Hagan made a commanding return to the series by sweeping the NHRA Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway and a final elimination round victory against Bob Tasca III. Along with Torrence and Hagan, another well known femme fatale in the Pro Stock series finally found her way back from a 65-point deficit to Greg Anderson after Eric Enders won her 33rd career race in St. Louis and fourth victory of the 2021 season with a margin of victory of two-thousandths of a second in Sunday’s elimination round against Dallas Glenn.
Top Fuel
Although the current king of Top Fuel has been enjoying the view from the top of the Countdown to the Championship points lead, surrendering the top spot to rival Brittany Force at zMAX Dragway, left Steve Torrence and his Capco Contractors team with a bad taste in their mouths. Seven days after he surrendered the top spot to rival Brittany Force, Torrence quickly addressed the issue by claiming his ninth win of the season in St. Louis. Despite not having the quickest car, Torrence was never off the pace set by the leaders. In qualifying, Torrence ran a 3.697-second pass, but trailed Salinas and Force, who exchanged haymakers with runs of 3.652 and 3.663 that are among the quickest in the history of the class. Throughout his career, Torrence has always been more content to made headlines on Sunday than on Friday or Saturday and he was content to do just that in St. Louis after a rough start earlier in the weekend, Torrence would once again take off on Sunday with victories against Shawn Langdon, Antron Brown, and last weekend’s Top Fuel winner Josh Hart.
These wins would lead to a final round battle against Mike Salinas and his Scrappers team. Despite being in trouble early in the final when Salinas left with a .011 reaction time, the Scrappers car drifted towards the centerline at half-track and Torrence took advantage of the miscue with a 3.736-second pass to seal the win and extend his advantage over the field.
“This win felt so great,” said Torrence. “I have been No. 1 all year except for the first race and the last race. I am confident in my ability to do the job and the way my team and I work together just makes me better every year. That final was crazy! I was waiting and Mike’s top bulb was on. I was in the process of bumping in, and his top bulb went out. I don’t think he meant to do it, but it was a distraction. I looked up and the lights were on. I knew I was dead late, but I was gaining on him at half-track, and I saw he was close to the centerline. I finally saw my win light, which made me realize that some days it’s better to be lucky than good.”
Thanks to his latest victory, Torrence sits atop the Top Fuel points battle as the Countdown to the Championship nears its conclusion.
Funny Car
Torrence wouldn’t be the only past champion to reclaim his throne in St. Louis. After missing two races due to COVID-19, Matt Hagan came into the NHRA Midwest Nationals just five points out of the lead in what is shaping up to be one of the most competitive Funny Car points battles in years. Making a clean sweep of the Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway, Hagan began his weekend with the quickest run of qualifying with a 3.868, which gave him a chance to make a free pass with a bye run in the opening round. Hagan then tacked on wins against fellow world champs J.R. Todd and Cruz Pedregon. Hagan’s race against Pedregon was typical of the current state of Funny Car racing with an even start, followed by a close 3.92-second to 3.95-second race that fell in Hagan’s favor. Hagan also made one of the best runs of Sunday’s eliminations with a 3.894-second pass in his win against J.R. Todd.
This would line Hagan up alongside Bob Tasca III in Sunday’s final. Thanks to a final pass of 3.933-seconds the driver whose season looked in doubt due to an invisible virus, left St. Louis with a 59-point advantage over the field.
“I am humbled and grateful to be where I am right now,” said Hagan. “I dealt with COVID for a couple of weeks and there were a couple of times where you’re like ‘Man, I don’t know if I’m going to pull through this.’ It’s one of those things where it humbled me and I’m glad to be back out here with you guys having fun and winning trophies. It was a slugfest all weekend. Everyone was making great runs and it’s pretty incredible to be a part of it and hang on to it. I’ve never won at this track, but I won Denver earlier this year, so we are clicking them off and every round matters. I have won three world championships and been runner-up twice and you know how to deal with the pressure. I don’t care who you are, it’s still pressure.”
Pro Stock
The final former world championship victory of the Midwest Nationals weekend would come from Pro Stock femme fatale Erica Enders. After beginning her weekend from the No. 5 qualifying spot, Enders raced her way to Sunday’s final round after taking down fellow former World Champion Bo Butner, as well as the newest Factory Stock champion Aaron Stanfield and finally Mason McGaha before lining up alongside Dallas Glenn for Sunday’s final round. Although Glenn would leave the line first with an almost perfect .001 reaction time and made a very competitive run with a 6.583-seconds in his RAD Torque Systems Camaro, this wouldn’t be enough as Enders countered with a .010 light of her own and a final 6.572-second final pass.
For Enders, the win was much needed after she’d fallen 65 points behind rival Greg Anderson as both drivers battle for their fifth Pro Stock world championship. “I don’t know what it is about this win, but I love it,” said Enders. “I don’t know what it is about this facility. I have been coming here since we were kids with our Super Comp dragsters. It is a blast and I really enjoy it. I knew it was going to be close. I was legging it and shoving the throttle pedal through the firewall. We just needed to have Greg stumble a little and we needed to go to work on our program and I needed to work on myself because I have been struggling a bit. These kids are keeping us honest and making us work for it. It is going to definitely be a dog fight as we move forward.”
These three champions will have a chance to continue on their successful pace as the Countdown to the Championship continues at the Texas NHRA FallNationals (Oct. 7-10) at the Texas Motorplex. Stay tuned to RacingJunk.com for the latest news from the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series.
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