Steve Torrence raced to his fifth consecutive race victory Sunday afternoon at the 31st annual Menards NHRA Heartland Nationals presented by Minties at Heartland Motorsports Park when he faced his father, Billy Torrence, in the final round.
Robert Hight was also victorious in Funny Car at the 10th of 24 events on the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule.
Words and photos courtesy NHRA/National Dragster
Defending world champion S. Torrence raced his Capco Contractors dragster to a run of 3.750-seconds at 326.16 mph to defeat B. Torrence’s 3.768 at 326. S. Torrence was the No. 1 qualifier, secured his first event victory at Heartland Motorsports Park and the 32nd of his career.
“There are no losers or winners today,” S. Torrence stated. “My dad has given me the opportunity to do anything and everything I’ve wanted to do in life and to be able to come out here and race with him as a family and to do this its pretty unbelievable. My mom, my dad and all of those Capco boys are great guys but we’re going to go home to Capco and brag a little bit, but I don’t know what the race was. I saw him right beside me when we shut it off. So, it was an unbelievable day. This is probably one of the most special ones ever.”
S. Torrence faced Terry Totten and Antron Brown before entering the finals. B. Torrence defeated Lex Joon, Richie Crampton and Austin Prock.
Hight locked-in his 49th career victory at the race that started it all for him 25 years ago when he worked on John Force’s Funny Car. He defeated Jack Beckman with a run of 3.895 at 330.88 in his Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS for his fourth victory of the season.
“I think that was the second time this year we’ve qualified in the bottom half of the field,” Hight said. “We just had bad luck. We didn’t miss it or do anything wrong, we just simply had bad luck every run. Finally, we get it together for Q4 and have low E.T. of the session and then low E.T. every session on race day. Once you get going with this team, you just start rolling.”
Hight raced Shawn Langdon, defending world champion J.R. Todd and Tommy Johnson Jr. before entering his 77th career final round. Beckman defeated teammate Matt Hagan, Tim Wilkerson and J. Force en route to his second final round of the season.
Stevie “Fast” Jackson claimed his second victory of the season at Heartland Motorsports Park in the E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by J&A Service on Sunday, winning the 31st annual Menards NHRA Heartland Nationals presented by Minties, where the series was presented by Real Pro Mod Association. It is the sixth of 12 races during the 2019 season.
Jackson ran a pass of 5.747-seconds at 251.72 mph in his JBRC Chevrolet Camaro picking up the final round win over Clint Satterfield’s pass of 5.933 at 251.58.
It marks the sixth career E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod victory and second at the facility for Jackson, who qualified No. 1 and also earned round wins over Michael Biehele II, Erica Enders and Sidnei Frigo.
“This race right here has nothing to do with going rounds or winning,” Jackson stated. “It’s got nothing to do with the points or the championship. My crew chief Billy Stocklin lost his dad and I told him we were going to get this for him. Billy, I love you. That’s all I got.”
Sunday’s final results from the 31st annual Menards NHRA Heartland Nationals presented by Minties at Heartland Motorsports Park. The race is the 10th of 24 in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series:
Top Fuel — Steve Torrence, 3.750 seconds, 326.16 mph def. Billy Torrence, 3.768 seconds, 326.00 mph.
Funny Car — Robert Hight, Chevy Camaro, 3.895, 330.88 def. Jack Beckman, Dodge Charger, 3.969, 323.97.
Pro Modified — Steve Jackson, Chevy Camaro, 5.747, 251.72 def. Clint Satterfield, Camaro, 5.933, 251.58.
Top Alcohol Dragster — Shawn Cowie, 5.213, 279.15 def. Troy Coughlin Jr., 7.406, 118.32.
Top Alcohol Funny Car — Sean Bellemeur, Chevy Camaro, 5.446, 269.29 def. Jay Payne, Camaro, 5.592, 262.79.
Competition Eliminator — Bruno Massel, Dragster, 6.764, 177.95 def. Shaun Vincent, Chevy S-10, 8.404, 158.32.
Super Stock — Gene Mosbek, Plymouth Savoy, 10.234, 126.34 def. Vic Penrod, Chevy Camaro, 9.898, 130.67.
Stock Eliminator — Chris Chaney, Chevy Camaro, 10.215, 129.59 def. Scott Libersher, Camaro, Foul
– Red Light.
Super Comp — Kyle Fickler, Dragster, 8.913, 161.63 def. Veron Rowland, Dragster, 8.899, 166.15.
Super Gas — Shawn Carter, Chevy Cavalier, 9.896, 166.31 def. Collin Becker, Chevy Camaro, 9.888, 164.45.
Super Street — Trevor Larson, Chevy Corvette, 10.853, 139.54 def. Mike Campbell, Chevy Malibu, Foul – Red Light.
Top Fuel Harley — Tii Tharpe, JTR, 6.313, 227.38 def. Bob Malloy, Buell, 7.391, 132.69.
Factory Stock Showdown — Stephen Bell, Chevy Camaro, 7.908, 174.12 def. Arthur Kohn, Camaro, 7.951, 174.19.
