BRAINERD, Minn. – Steve Torrence (Top Fuel) and Matt Hagan (Funny Car) roared to victory during the final day of the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals Sunday afternoon at Brainerd Int’l Raceway.
Torrence, the NHRA Top Fuel championship leader, secured his seventh victory of the season and the 47th of his career by outrunning Clay Millican in the final round. Torrence and the CAPCO Contractors Dragster roared to a 3.712-second pass, which was just enough to beat Millican’s 3.729-second run.
The victory also gave Torrence a Wally from every track on the NHRA calendar.
“I did everything possible to screw this up until the final and I finally got my head out of my butt and drove my race car because that was a heck of a race against Clay and those guys, they’re coming on strong right now,” said Torrence. “I couldn’t be more proud of that team but these CAPCO boys, they continue to just save me when I need it. I help them when they need it and we’re at the front and we’re staying there.”
In Funny Car, Hagan claimed his second victory in the last five Funny Car events with a strong run in the finals against Cruz Pedregon. Hagan went 3.923 seconds at 327.97 mph to outrun Pedregon’s 3.935-second, 324.83 mph pass.
The triumph was Hagan’s first victory at Brainerd Int’l Raceway.
“I’ve been racing for so long, and it’s great to knock this one off the list and add a Brainerd trophy to the shelf,” said Hagan. “We want to win every race, and at every race track, so I’m especially glad we got it done today.”