{"id":32024,"date":"2016-10-31T12:10:37","date_gmt":"2016-10-31T19:10:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=32024"},"modified":"2018-08-16T12:35:43","modified_gmt":"2018-08-16T19:35:43","slug":"antron-brown-crowned-nhra-mello-yello-top-fuel-champion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/antron-brown-crowned-nhra-mello-yello-top-fuel-champion\/","title":{"rendered":"Antron Brown Crowned NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel Champion"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Antron<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Although Steve Torrence won the 16th<\/sup> annual Toyota Nationals Top Fuel division on the strip at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, it was Antron Brown who was awarded the ultimate prize of his third championship in the last five years.\u00a0 John Force once again proved that age is just a number, winning for the 147th<\/sup> time of his illustrious career. Shane Gray\u2019s Pro Stock win was very significant, as he decided last week to withdraw from his racing seat and turn over his ride to his son, Tanner, next year.\u00a0 Pro Stock Motorcycle has a near three-way tie for their championship with Jerry Savoie winning on Sunday, putting the Harley-Davidson team into a tie with Savoie only three points away.<\/p>\n

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TOP FUEL
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\"Antron<\/p>\n

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Steve Torrence added an exclamation point to an already spectacular season Sunday, with a flawless performance that propelled his Capco Contractors Top Fuel dragster to a statement win in the Toyota Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.<\/p>\n

A final round victory over J.R. Todd pushed the 33-year-old Texan past Doug Kalitta and into second place in points behind Antron Brown who, by advancing to the semifinals, clinched his second straight Mello Yello championship and third in five years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal always is to win the championship,\u201d Torrence said, \u201cbut if you can\u2019t do that, then you want to finish as high as you can.\u00a0 Second place would be huge but it\u2019s way too early to celebrate.\u00a0 There\u2019s one more race (Auto Club of Southern California Finals at Pomona, Calif.) and our plan is to go win that one, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a banner season for Torrence, who already has set personal single season records for final rounds (8), No. 1 starts (8) and rounds won (34).\u00a0 Significantly, Sunday\u2019s win also enabled him to even his career record in the Top Fuel division at 153-153.<\/p>\n

Those are remarkable numbers, especially when one considers the fact that he was only 24-46 with no final round appearances when he decided in 2012 to form his own team.\u00a0 Since doing so, he has won eight times and finished in the Top 10 every season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe made a really good first (qualifying) run and that gave (crew chief Richard) Hogan a baseline.\u00a0 He made great calls on Sunday.\u00a0 We were quickest in every round but the second.\u00a0 The only guy who could screw it up was me.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t about to do that today,\u201d\u00a0 Torrence remarked.<\/p>\n

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\"Antron<\/p>\n

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He beat Richie Crampton, Doug Kalitta by a margin of victory of .002-thousandths of a second, and Leah Pritchett to meet J R Todd in the finals.\u00a0 He used a .041-light to distance himself from Todd, who wasn\u2019t about to give up in a true side-by-side race with Torrence, getting to the line first with a time of 3.734 seconds, 328.81 mph to Todd\u2019s time of 3.762 seconds, 321.96 mph to score for the eighth time in his career.<\/p>\n

Torrence’s Sunday performance was particularly impressive considering the fact that the cancer survivor never before had gone beyond the second round at the Toyota Nationals.\u00a0 Apparently, his Vegas luck finally has changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pretty gratifying to be a family race team out here running against the big dogs,\u201d said the 2005 NHRA champion in the Top Alcohol Dragster division.\u00a0 \u201cOur goal when we formed this team in 2012 was to compete for the championship.\u00a0 The only thing left now is to come back and win the championship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Antron Brown became the first driver in the Top Fuel category to score back-to-back championships since 2009, clinching his third title in just five years.\u00a0 With his win, Torrence leaped into second place by 11 points over Doug Kalitta.<\/p>\n

“Steve (Torrence) won that one, but we got it done,\u201d said the 2016 Top Fuel champion. \u00a0\u201cBrian, Mark and our whole team have worked so hard. \u00a0I’m just privileged to drive that racecar for Don Schumacher Racing because Don makes it happen.<\/p>\n

“This sport goes way back in my life, and my wife knows we do everything together; it’s a family sport and that’s what it’s all about. \u00a0My whole family – my dad, my uncle, my grandma, everybody – they instilled this in me at a young age: Work hard and you can make great things happen. \u00a0Put great people around you. \u00a0Moreover, I’ve been blessed to have every single one of these things happen.<\/p>\n

“Every championship is hard to win.\u00a0You don’t go into the Countdown expecting to win a race; you just go in saying I hope we can win some rounds.\u00a0 If you can win 14 to 16 rounds, that’s what wins the Countdown.\u00a0 You just need to be steady and let everything flow like water.\u00a0 You can never think about how close you are to a championship, just stay focused on every round.\u00a0 Once you win a race, you erase that and move on to the next.”<\/p>\n

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FUNNY CAR<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Antron<\/p>\n

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The invincible John Force keeps rolling along, and in Las Vegas, he won his second NHRA Countdown race at the expense of daughter, Courtney. He now is in the top five of the Countdown.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey told me all I had to do was win this race and I had a shot at (Ron) Capps; then I found out at the top end that wasn\u2019t the case. \u00a0I want a recount,\u201d joked Force.<\/p>\n

In a classic final round, John Force pulled up beside his youngest daughter for the fifth time in a final round. \u00a0The pair of Forces had split the previous four races and on Sunday, it was the elder Force to take the rubber-match win.<\/p>\n

He ran his best time of the day, pushing the Chevy Funny Car to a time of 3.884 seconds, 327.19 mph to Courtney\u2019s nearly identical effort of 3.905 seconds, 325.85 mph.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never like defeating my daughter, but we got two wins in the Countdown, but we were just a little bit late,\u201d said Force. \u00a0\u201cIt is pretty exciting to see the stands that packed. \u00a0We have sold out crowds and our TV with FOX is really hopping. \u00a0I have young kids running this PEAK Chevrolet led by (crew chief) Jon Schaffer. \u00a0We are building a young group for the future.\u00a0 I am just glad we gave the fans a good show. \u00a0She left on me. \u00a0I rolled deep on her and she still got the jump on me. \u00a0I am excited to be in the hunt with these kids.”<\/p>\n

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\"Antron<\/p>\n

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John Force continues to work to make himself a better driver.\u00a0 The 67 year-old former truck driver from Yorba Linda, Calif., defeated four drivers today whose average age was 36, three decades younger than Force.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am learning what I can do at my age.\u00a0 The real truth is I am learning and studying that there is a whole future out there.\u00a0 I am doing the things I need to do to make myself better.\u00a0 I have learned some real tricks,\u201d explained Force in the pressroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I saw Cruz (who had an enormous wheel stand in the first round) I was screaming, \u2018That\u2019s Jungle Jim!\u2019 It freaked me out because that was how Jungle drove all the time. He was fearless. That is where drag racing came from. We are special, and I really believe that when it comes to motorsports. What we all do in drag racing, from Super Comp to Top Fuel, we do it for the passion and the love,\u201d said Force.<\/p>\n

In the championship news, Ron Capps enters Pomona with an 86-point lead; all he has to do is qualify for the race and make it to the line for first round, and finally Capps can claim his first Funny Car championship.<\/p>\n

“Just another incredible job by Tobler and this NAPA Know How team this weekend,” said Capps, who qualified fourth at Las Vegas racing to another semi-final finish.\u00a0 \u201cI always brag about Tobler, but he adjusted to so many changes to the conditions over the weekend to make our Dodge one of the quickest in every qualifying session and we advanced to another semi.<\/p>\n

“It’s all about how this team has done all year – not what I’ve done. \u00a0It’s down to one more race and we have a lot of things left to do. \u00a0But we’re closer. \u00a0This is by far the best chance we’ve had going into Pomona.\u00a0 It would only be appropriate for this DSR team to win the championship, because this team already has had a championship year.”<\/p>\n

The most spectacular race of the day came in the first round of eliminations, when Cruz Pedregon defeated Robert Hight with airborne aerobatics, running a time of 4.233 seconds at a speed of 218.55 – and that was his wheelie bar clicking clocks.\u00a0 Pedregon\u2019s front end picked up and he literally sailed through the timing lights, finally landing safely, but he was unable to make the next round against Capps.<\/p>\n

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