(Left to right) LE Tonglet, Chris McGaha, Ron Capps, and Steve Torrence won their respective categories Sunday at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway near Charlotte, NC. (Image/NHRA)
Steve Torrence raced his way to Top Fuel victory Sunday in the eighth annual NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, NC.
Ron Capps in Funny Car, Chris McGaha in Pro Stock, and LE Tonglet in Pro Stock Motorcycle were also winners in their respective categories at the sixth event on the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule.
Torrence piloted his dragster to a 3.783-second pass at 323.89 miles per hour for the ninth victory of his career and first of the season. He defeated current points leader, Leah Pritchett, eight-time world champion Tony Schumacher, and Terry McMillen in the final round.
“This is the same as winning a race that you had to pedal it every round or you had to win it on holeshots,” Torrence said. “This is a driver’s race. We race 24 races a year and one of them we race four-wide. It’s completely different when you come in here. You’re mentally challenged.”
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Capps Wins First Career Four-Wide Race
Capps, the current Funny Car world champion, ran a 3.933 at 322.65 in his Dodge Charger for his first NHRA Four-Wide Nationals win of his career, second consecutive this season, and 52nd of his Funny Car career. His teammate Jack Beckman took second place, J.R. Todd finished third, and teammate Matt Hagan placed fourth.
“This is a fun race,” Capps said. “I’ve got a great racecar. To be in a car and to have it throw you back with that many g-force and realizing the temperature that track is and still feeling that six g’s and thinking ‘how on God’s earth are these two Goodyears sticking to that ground?,’ It’s an amazing feeling.”
With the victory, Capps takes a 43-point lead over Hagan.
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McGaha Takes Four-Wide Wally in Pro Stock
In Pro Stock, McGaha picked up his fifth career victory and first at zMax Dragway when he ran a 6.591 at 210.44 in his Chevy Camaro. He bested Greg Anderson, Shane Gray and Drew Skillman in the final round.
“Now it looks like we’ve got some momentum and it’s kind of hard to swallow,” McGaha said. “To me, I’ve always said you’ve got to have power to win in this game. You’ve got to have enough smoke to win. This one showed us we have a lot of power and that’s why we came here.”
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Tonglet Wins Pro Stock Motorcycle
Tonglet rode his Suzuki to a 6.864 at 195.00 pass to earn his 10th career victory and first of the season. He defeated three-time world champion Eddie Krawiec and Andrew Hines on his way to his first four-wides win.
“It’s just unbelievable what we’ve come through this weekend alone,” Tonglet said. “With the four-wides, you just have to be prepared for anything. You just have to concentrate because if you lose your train of thought, it’s going to be bad.”
This win also marks the first victory for Tonglet since joining the White Alligator Racing team headed by Pro Stock Motorcycle world champion Jerry Savoie.
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The 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season continues at Atlanta Dragway May 5-7.
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NHRA Pro Stock Point Standings
1. Greg Anderson 554 2. Bo Butner 464 3. Jason Line 457 4. Tanner Gray 423 5. Jeg Coughlin 419
NHRA Funny Car Point Standings
1. Ron Capps 518 2. Matt Hagan 475 3. John Force 433 4. Tommy Johnson Jr. 390 5. Jack Beckman 375
NHRA Top Fuel Point Standings
1. Leah Pritchett 569 2. Tony Schumacher 535 3. Antron Brown 501 4. Steve Torrence 470 5. Doug Kalitta 417
NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle Point Standings
1. Eddie Krawiec 225 2. Andrew Hines 177 3. LE Tonglet 172 4. Joey Gladstone 135 5. Scotty Pollacheck 124
Drag Race Central and NHRA contributed to this report.
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