Toyota Gazoo Racing North America NHRA Seattle Post-Race Report – 07.21.24

TORRENCE CLAIMS BACK-TO-BACK NORTHWEST NATIONALS VICTORIES
Toyota now has 11 Top Fuel wins in the last 12 NHRA events

KENT, Wash. (July 21, 2024) – For the second year in a row, Steve Torrence captured the Wally Trophy at Pacific Raceways and the NHRA Northwest Nationals as the day concluded Sunday afternoon. This is Torrence’s first victory of the 2024 season, his first win since this race a season ago, and the 55th of his career which puts him equal with Doug Kalitta in fourth on the all-time Top Fuel wins list. Torrence’s triumph is the 11th win in the last 12 Top Fuel events for Toyota.

Torrence had to defeat Toyota teammate, Shawn Langdon, in the finals, who made his fifth final round of the season. With the finals appearances by Torrence and Langdon, Toyota has now reached the final round in 34 consecutive NHRA events in either Top Fuel and/or Funny Car.

After Sunday’s action, Toyota still owns the top-five positions in the Top Fuel points standings, with Doug Kalitta now leading teammate, Langdon, heading to Sonoma next weekend.

In Funny Car, J.R Todd advanced to the semifinals for the seventh time in 2024 but fell to Austin Prock by 0.037 seconds in the penultimate round. In round one, Ron Capps suffered an engine explosion and made contact with the wall before coming to a stop. Capps was alert, exited the car under his own power and was examined by the NHRA Medical Team before being released.

NHRA is right back in action next weekend at Sonoma Raceway for the twelfth event of the 2024 season.

Toyota Post-Race Recap
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series
NHRA Northwest Nationals
Pacific Raceways
Race 11 of 20

TOYOTA TOP FUEL FINISHING POSITIONS 

TOYOTA FUNNY CAR FINISHING POSITIONS 

*= Non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

STEVE TORRENCE, CAPCO Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, Torrence Racing

TF Final Result: Winner

Talk about that final round and what this win means.

“Man, I tell you what, you take these things for granted when you get them pretty often. We’re taking this one home to my new baby girl. My wife (Natalie)’s birthday. It’s been a while. Heck, I’m out of breath and didn’t do nothing but hit the gas like three times. Shawn Langdon, Kalitta Air. Those guys have been bad-to-the-bone. I told you earlier, I was trying to take him out all day. But these CAPCO boys, Toyota, Mac Tools. We don’t have a lot of partners, but the ones we do, we think highly of and they’re the best. This is pretty cool man. One year to the day. Wasn’t sure if we were going to win one of these for a while. Richard Hogan (crew chief), Bobby (Lagana Jr., assistant crew chief). Sometimes us Torrences are hard to deal with, but them guys handle us pretty good. Thank you, guys. And all those guys from CAPCO back at home that are keeping us out here, we appreciate y’all.”

J.R. TODD, DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car, Kalitta Motorsports

FC Final Result: Semifinals

Can you overview your day and your outlook for Sonoma?

“Pretty good. The car went down the track every run and we made some really good, quick runs and it was pretty consistent all weekend. Just dropped a cylinder, we’ve been dropping cylinders all weekend so if we fix that up, I think we have a really good chance of competing for a win in Sonoma.”

Going to Sonoma as the event winner, what’s that going to be like for next weekend?

“Yeah, it’s one of my favorite tracks. We’ve had a lot of success there in the past, so it’s nice to be going back to a track that we’ve won at in the past and hopefully we can compete.”

RON CAPPS, NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra Funny Car, Ron Capps Motorsports

FC Final Result: First Round

Take us through that accident and how you’re feeling.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just such a bummer. First and foremost, Guido (Dean Antonelli, crew chief) and our NAPA Auto Care guys work so hard on the safety aspect. And I know John Force is watching and he’s a big reason for a lot of the safety reasons on the car. It beat my head around pretty good. But obviously, I’m fine. Just bummed as a team owner. We run a good Toyota Supra body and unfortunately, lost that round and we were really looking forward to vying for a win here. But we’re well-prepared. Best parts in the world. Best people in the world. I was staging the car, and it had some sprinkles on the windshield. None that I was worried about, but I knew Guido was trying to put in a decent run to give us lane choice in the next round and it’s my fault for over-abusing it. I’m pretty decent at pedaling these cars. Just seeing Gary Densham out the window, I don’t think I waited long enough like I normally do to keep it rolling a nitro engine like this. We’ll be good. We’ll head to Sonoma. The backup car we had upstairs (in the hauler) is a car that won a lot of races for us the last couple years, so again, Guido and the guys are as prepared as any team out here, if not more so. We’re already ready to run. All good.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. for more than 65 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our nearly 1,500 dealerships. 

Toyota directly employs more than 49,000 people in the U.S. who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of more than 34 million cars and trucks at our nine manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 10th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 28 electrified options.

Through its Driving Possibilities initiative, the Toyota USA Foundation has committed to creating innovative educational programs within, and in partnership with, historically underserved and diverse communities near the company’s U.S. operating sites.

For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.