CHAD GREEN TAKES DOWN TOP FUEL ’ S STEVE TORRENCE — TWICE
Rather than head home early , the drivers who didn ’ t qualify in Top Fuel and Funny Car participated in the Top Fuel vs . Funny Car Shootout , with the Don Schumacher Nitro Superstar Award and a $ 10,000 bonus from Red Line Oil up for grabs . The format paired Top Fuel dragsters against Funny Cars in the first round , with the quickest of each returning for the final round . A twotenths staggered tree favoring the Funny Cars evened the playing field .
Recent first-time Funny Car winner Chad Green and four-time Top Fuel world champion Steve Torrence coincidentally were the quickest in the first round when they faced each other , so they returned for a rematch in the final round . Green was first to the finish line both times in his Bond-Coat ‘ 23 Ford Mustang . In the final round , he cut a . 064 reaction time to Torrence ’ s . 186 , then laid down a 3.977 at 318.17 to finish ahead of the CAPCO Contractors dragster ’ s 3.729 at 333.41 .
“ I did something today I definitely thought I would never do , and that ’ s race against a Top Fuel dragster ,” Green said . “ And on top of that , when I heard I was gonna be doing this last night when we got bumped out , I was like , ‘ Oh , I just hope I get Steve Torrence .’ That ’ s what I went home telling all my crew last night because he ’ s my buddy , and just to get a chance to race against a Steve Torrence , right ? Or Brittany [ Force ], for sure . I was like , ‘ If I don ’ t get Steve , I want Brittany .’
The unique Chicago-style format created the rare situation where Green and Torrence met twice in eliminations . In their first meeting , Green ’ s quicker . 110 reaction time versus Torrence ’ s . 136 made the difference at the finish line when Green ’ s 4.011 at 316.82 beat Torrence ’ s 3.787 at 328.78 . While Torrence ’ s reaction times were off his usually quick and consistent lights , he was by far the quickest reacting Top Fuel driver .
“ I went up to Steve after the first round and said I ’ ll probably never get a chance to do this again , and then , boom , we get to race each other in the final ,” Green said . “ So I got to beat him two times . I think I got a holeshot both times . I ’ m just really proud of that .” DI
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