Steve Torrence has now won at every track on the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series circuit, finally solving Brainerd International Raceway on Sunday and picking up a memorable Top Fuel victory at the 39th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals.

Matt Hagan (Funny Car) also won at the 12th race of the 2021 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season

Torrence, the Top Fuel points leader and three-time defending world champ drove to his seventh victory in 2021 and 47th in his career, going 3.712-seconds at 323.74 mph in the final round in his 11,000-horsepower Capco Contractors dragster to beat Clay Millican, who went 3.729 at 320.05.

Torrence had won at every stop on the NHRA series but Brainerd before the weekend, but impressed throughout eliminations on Sunday, beating Terry Totten and Justin Ashley to reach the final round.

Both drivers had identical .052 reaction times on the starting line, but Torrence had just enough at the finish line to get the narrow victory and finish off the memorable weekend. Among active drivers, Torrence joins John Force and Ron Capps as the only current competitors who have won at every NHRA track.

“I did everything possible to screw it up all the way until the final when I finally got my head out of my butt,” Torrence said. “That was a heck of a race against Clay and those guys are coming on strong right now. This team, they continue to save me when I need it, I help them when they need it, and we’re at the front and staying there."

"It’s just a blessing to be here and to have this opportunity is truly special. To say I’ve won every race on the circuit, I just remember dreaming of winning one race," added Torrence.

Millican maintained his strong pace by advancing to his second straight final and third this season, beating Doug Kalitta, Mike Salinas and No. 1 qualifier Brittany Force, who remained second in points behind Torrence.

In Funny Car, Matt Hagan drove the Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye into the winner’s circle for the second time in 2021, and 38th time in his career when he clocked a stout .051 reaction time and 3.923 second E.T. to defeat Cruz Pedregon’s 3.935-second effort in the final Funny Car showdown.

In the semifinals, Hagan once again used his reflexes coupled with a solid 3.932-second pass to propel him to victory over Bob Tasca III, and earn a bid to the finals for the fourth time this season.

By winning the Brainerd hardware, Hagan moved into the Funny Car point lead with only one event remaining – the Dodge//SRT NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis – before playoff positions are set and the Countdown to the Championship chase begins.

“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, who, despite having a lot of success at Brainerd in the past, including being the first Funny Car pilot to clock a 3.8-second run during the 2015 event, had yet to seal the deal and hoist a Brainerd Wally trophy before Sunday. “We want to win every race, and at every race track, so I’m especially glad we got it done today.”

As Hagan and the Dickie Venables-led Mopar Dodge Funny Car team prepare to begin their 2020 title defense, they have one race left to continue to tweak their performance and put as many points on the leaderboard as possible. Hagan occupies the No. 1 spot heading into the final ‘regular season’ event which features a unique points-and-a-half format.

With a mere 25 points separating the top five ranked drivers, Hagan knows his team has their work cut out in order to maintain their position at the top of the board.

“We’re trying to get where we should be,” explained the three-time Funny Car world champion. “After coming off of such a strong championship run last year, you come out and expect to set the world on fire, and we just haven’t been able to do that. But Dickie Venables, you give the guy enough shots at the race track."

“The points lead has changed hands so many times this year. There's less than one round that separates the top five ranked cars so it’s a true dogfight right now," said Hagan. "We struggled a little bit in the beginning of the season, and it feels like things are really starting to click and come together for our team. The Countdown is the Countdown. I’ve won from all different starting positions, you’ve just got to be in it to win it. This team, we’re all starting to peak at the right time, so I’m excited about that.”

Cruz Pedregon, who went 3.935 at 324.83 in the championship round, reached the finals for the 78th time in his career and the second time this season thanks to wins against Gary Densham, Ron Capps and J.R. Todd.

In the E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series, points leader Jose Gonzalez drove to his third straight win by knocking off Brandon Snider in the final round on Sunday afternoon.

Gonzalez put on a show in NHRA Pro Mod’s first trip to Brainerd, finishing off his weekend with a run of 5.790-seconds at 246.03 mph in his ProCharger-powered Q80 Camaro to slip past Snider’s 5.812 at 247.29.

Gonzalez, who was also the No. 1 qualifier, reached the final round with victories against Doug Winters and Stevie Jackson, posting a .009 reaction time against Winters.

“When you have guys like Brandon Snider, Stevie Jackson and (Justin) Bond, and everybody who races in this class, you have to be on your game,” Gonzalez said. “They’re not going to cut you any (breaks), so as much as I can do, I try to do it for the team."

The E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by J&A Service returns to action Sept. 1-5 as part of the Dodge//SRT NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis.

The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series returns to action Sept. 1-5 for the prestigious 67th annual Dodge//SRT U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis.

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TOP FUEL
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 Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET---Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT----ET---Speed

    1 Steve Torrence                         25 Clay Millican                
E4   ****WINNER****  0.052  3.712 323.74                     0.052  3.729 320.05

 Prior rounds:
E3                   0.072  3.697 329.34      (B Force     ) 0.085  3.876 265.95
E2    (J Ashley    ) 0.132  3.737 326.48      (M Salinas   ) 0.042  3.741 325.69
E1    (T Totten    ) -0.138  3.697 330.31      (D Kalitta   ) 0.076  3.729 327.27
 Qualified:             #2  3.684 329.91                        #4  3.721 325.22


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FUNNY CAR
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    1 Matt Hagan                             71 Cruz Pedregon                
E4   ****WINNER****  0.051  3.923 327.98                     0.106  3.935 324.83

 Prior rounds:
E3    (B Tasca III ) 0.065  3.932 328.30      (J Todd      ) 0.058  3.933 322.73
E2    (P Lee       ) 0.070  3.928 323.27      (R Capps     ) 0.075  3.908 325.45
E1    (D Creasy Jr.) 0.089  3.911 328.30      (G Densham   ) 0.135  3.907 326.56
 Qualified:             #4  3.891 328.06                        #2  3.874 324.67


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PRO MOD 
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  203 Jose Gonzalez                           2 Brandon Snider               
E3   ****WINNER****  0.003  5.790 246.03                     0.028  5.812 247.29

 Prior rounds:
E2    (S Jackson   ) 0.033  5.848 245.63      (J Bond      ) 0.137  6.317 149.61
E1    (D Winters   ) 0.009  5.771 246.62      (C Green     ) 0.363  5.781 248.20
 Qualified:             #2  5.758 248.25                        #4  5.780 250.00

NHRA Communications; Mopar Dodge//SRT Motorsports media