Barber: Billy Torrence upsets his son in NHRA Top Fuel

SONOMA - As Kay Torrence followed her husband, Billy, into the press box of the John Cardinale Media Center at Sonoma Raceway on Sunday, a well-wisher offered her simultaneous congratulations (on behalf of Billy) and condolences (on behalf of her son, Steve).

'If somebody's gonna beat the baby,' Kay said under her breath, 'it's gotta be the daddy.'

Believe me, it sounded even better in a heavy Texas twang.

It was a strange day for the Torrence family, and not the first. Steve Torrence has been the dominant driver in the elite Top Fuel category of NHRA this season, by a wide margin. He had made it to the final round at nine consecutive events, and had won eight of those. Any Top Fuel driver on the circuit can tell you exactly what the back of Torrence's dragster looks like.

But Steve Torrence didn't reach the final here at the Sonoma Nationals, because he lost in the semifinals — to his dad, Billy. They left the start area at virtually the same time, but Steve's car sputtered just a bit as he neared the finish line. Smoke billowed from the engine compartment as the car came to a rest, and it was Billy who had earned a spot in the final.

There he edged Clay Millican by less than four one-hundredths of a second. Torrence and Millican traveled faster than 320 miles per hour down the track, and Torrence beat him by two feet to earn his third NHRA victory at the age of 61.

When a Fox TV reporter reached Billy, far down the dragstrip, the driver had tears in his eyes.

Father outracing son is a nice hook, but NHRA is full of family connections. Just this weekend at Sonoma, the racing featured John Force in Top Fuel and his daughter Brittany in Funny Car; Mike Salinas in Top Fuel and his daughter Jianna in Pro Stock Motorcycle; Fernando Cuadro and his sons Fernando Jr. and Cristian, all in Pro Stock; Hector Arana Sr. and Jr. in Pro Stock Motorcyle; James Surber and his daughter Melissa on motorcycles; and the husband-and-wife team of Matt and Angie Smith, also on two wheelers.

The family trees are appropriate to NHRA. Because compared to other major race circuits, it's a mom-and-pop operation. The dragstrip is one of the few remaining places where someone can compete with the big boys if they're willing to, you know, give away all their time and money to the project.

But the Torrences are unique, too. Here's how you might expect the father-son dynamic to work in this sport: The patriarch builds a successful racing career. The son learns at his side, and eventually asks for his own chance to drive. The father frets over the son's safety, but relents. They wind up competing on the asphalt, and of course the father has the upper hand; he has more experience and guile. But eventually the son catches up and beats the father, resetting the relationship.

That's pretty much the exact opposite of how it has gone for the Torrences.

Billy has a substantial racing history, but most of it came in sportsman cars, long ago. He is part of Torrence Racing, created to support Steve's ambitions, but even there, Kay Torrence has been the guiding force. She is 'Mama Kay' to everyone in the garage in Brownsburg, Indiana.

Billy began driving a Top Fuel dragster in 2016 primarily as an asset for Steve. NHRA racing relies heavily on technology and data gathering. The more cars parked in a race garage, the more data you can assemble. Billy's crew would be, as he described it, 'a test-bed team for the A car.'

The only problem with Billy getting behind the wheel is that, in a classic role reversal, it made his son fret.

'I thought it was the worst idea ever letting my dad get into one,' Steve Torrence recently told a website dedicated to North American oil and gas pipelines — and more on that in a moment. 'I said to myself, 'Hell, I am (OK) driving it, but I don't know if I can put my dad in this thing. This thing is terrifying. I don't want him to be in there. He'll get hurt.' '

And then Steve Torrence set about blowing his father's doors off. He beat him six straight times. Some of the races were close. But if Antron Brown and Doug Kalitta couldn't outrun Steve — and they rarely have in recent years — how could Billy?

All of it changed in less than four seconds Sunday.

'We do race heads-up,' Billy Torrence said after the Top Fuel final. 'I mean, how you gonna brag if you didn't race heads-up?'

I asked Kay if it wasn't eating at Billy a little bit to have lost six times to their son.

'Oh, absolutely,' she said, her diamonds lighting up the pressbox. 'And was Steve mad when he came back (Sunday)? Absolutely. Was he happy? No, ma'am. I said, 'Get over it, it's your dad. It's your team car.' '

The Torrences were scheduled to fly back to Texas just a couple hours after the race. They live in Kilgore — Steve across the street from Billy and Kay — about 50 miles west of Shreveport, Louisiana.

Billy has only so much time for drag racing because he is the founder and president of Capco Contractors, a pipeline company that happens to be the major sponsor of Torrence Racing. According to the company website, Capco handles, among other things, 'all aspects of pipeline construction, including boring and hydrostatic testing equipment and personnel,' plus 'turnkey installation of compressor and pump stations' and 'pipeline reconditioning work' and 'gas plant/refinery construction and maintenance.'

It sounds hard, and lucrative, and not conducive to an NHRA racing career. Billy Torrence drives only a partial race schedule. Which is a shame, because his victory at Sonoma puts him within sight of the Top Fuel top 10, meaning he has an outside shot of earning a spot in the Countdown to the Championship, the equivalent of NHRA's playoffs. Three races remain before the Countdown cutoff. Steve will make the cut. Billy isn't sure he'll give it his full effort.

Maybe he will ponder the notion over lunch Monday. The Torrences will mark their victory as they always do, with Mexican food at El Charro on the Ridge in Tyler, Texas. The bartender will clap for them, as usual. Billy will order three crispy tacos, as usual. The only difference is that it won't be Steve's win they're celebrating.

'Tomorrow when we drive out of Capco, I'm gonna say, 'Have you ever ridden to lunch with a guy who just won Sonoma?'' Billy promised.

Daddy's really feeling this latest achievement. The baby may need to even the score.

You can reach columnist Phil Barber at 707-521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com. Follow him on Twitter: @Skinny_Post.