Torrance gets first US Nationals win, 14th of his career
CLERMONT, Ind. (AP) Steve Torrence got his 14th career Top Fuel victory for his first win at the U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway on Monday.
Torrence had a 3.757-second pass at 322.96 mph in his dragster to beat Kebin Kinsley for his seventh win of the season.
''This is surreal,'' Torrence said. ''I don't even know if I'm realizing what's going on right now. You come to Indy and you race for a week. This is our biggest race. This is what we race our careers for, is to try and win Indy and it's a marathon. ... This is us winning the biggest race of our sport. I said this the other day, you can win a bunch of championships but if you don't win Indy then you haven't really done much. So, we've won Indy.''
With his semifinal win over Leah Pritchett, Torrence clinched the No. 1 seed heading into the Countdown to the Championship, NHRA's six race playoff.
J.R. Todd (Funny Car), Drew Skillman (Pro Stock) and Hector Arana Jr. (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won their categories at the 18th event of 24 on the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Series Drag Racing Series schedule.
Todd powered past Funny Car reigning world champion Ron Capps with a 3.949 pass at 325.53 in his Toyota Camry to better Capps' 3.923 at 325.61 in his Dodge Charger. It was Todd's first career win at the U.S. Nationals, his second of the season and in his Funny Car career.
Skillman ran a 6.676 pass at 206.61 in his Chevrolet Camaro to defeat Greg Anderson's 6.660 at 208.01 on a holeshot for his first victory at Lucas Oil Raceway, his hometown track, his fourth win of the season and seventh of his career.
Krawiec rode to the Pro Stock Motorcycle win with his 6.858 pass at 196.90 on his Harley-Davidson to defeat Hector Arana Jr. and his Buell's 6.886 pass at 195.48.
