S. Torrence, Alexander & Anderson Roll to Provisional No.1 Spots at Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals

BRAINERD, MN – August 17, 2024 – (Motor Sports NewsWire) – Four-time Top Fuel world champion Steve Torrence powered to the provisional No. 1 position on speed at Brainerd International Raceway, taking the top spot over Tony Stewart on Friday at the 42nd annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals.

Blake Alexander (Funny Car) and Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) are also the provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the 13th of 20 races during the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.

Torrence and Stewart both went a blistering 3.688-seconds during the second qualifying session at Brainerd, but Torrence had the faster run, going an impressive 335.32 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Capco Contractors dragster. If that holds, it would be Torrence’s third top spot of the season and the 40th in his career. After winning in Seattle, things are continuing to come around for Torrence, who is currently third in Top Fuel points.

“We’ve been working on trying to make power,” Torrence said. “At the end of the day, power is speed, and the high mile an hour is just an exhibition of power and being able to get it down. These conditions here are different than a lot of places we go, so it’s rather difficult to make power here. I was a little surprised to see .68 being low.

“The track is good, everything is good, but people are struggling to make the power they want. We were wanting to run quicker than .68, and that’s just what it gave us. We were just a little closer to it than everybody else, only a little better than Smoke. Pretty cool to see him come out and do as well as he’s done right here. We got lucky and it’s been a good day.”

Stewart went a career-best 3.688 at 332.18 to sit in the second spot, while points leader and reigning world champ Doug Kalitta is third with a run of 3.703 at 335.40.

Funny Car’s Blake Alexander made a big move to close out qualifying on Friday in Brainerd, jumping to the No. 1 position in his 11,000-horsepower Head Racing Ford Mustang after a strong run of 3.874 at 331.61. It would be Alexander’s first career No. 1 qualifier should it hold. It was a standout performance by Alexander, who has enjoyed some strong moments during the 2024 campaign, including a pair of semifinal finishes over the last four events. Adding his first career No. 1 qualifier would certainly add that list if Alexander can hang on.

“Given the circumstances of the previous race, that was very sweet – but also, I think we’re capable of doing…