2009 News Archive:

Torrence Continues to Impress

Las Vegas - After an impressive semi-final finish in Memphis, Dexter Tuttle’s Colorfast team with Steve Torrence at the controls had another great weekend this time at the Ninth annual NHRA Las Vegas Nationals.

In the opening stanza of qualifying, Torrence qualified in the number one position with an impressive 3.83 at 314 MPH. Torrence however would have to settle for second as Larry Dixon took the top qualifying spot by just 300ths of a second. Torrence was impressive never the less as 26 Top Fuel Dragsters tried to qualify for the stout 16 car field.

In the first round Torrence drew Terry McMillen. McMillen got out of the gate first with an 0.078 reaction time to Torrence’s 0.078. But the Colorfast car was too much for McMillen as he began to haze the tires right off the starting line. Torrence meanwhile exhibited a clean, straight pass down the race track to advance to the second round with a 3.90 at 305 MPH to McMillen’s 5.97 at 105 MPH.

In round two, Torrence was matched up with Spencer Massey driving for Don Prudhomme. At the hit Massey got a slight advantage off the starting line with a 0.060 to Torrence’s 0.067. Unfortunately, Torrence went up in smoke and that was all she wrote as Massey was long gone.

In spite of the quarter final loss the Colorfast team has reason to be optimistic as they had a very good qualifying effort and went a couple of rounds. The team now heads to Pomona for the NHRA Auto Club Finals being contested in just two weeks.

Torrence Scores Big Semifinal Finish at Mid-South Nationals


Steve Torrence takes out Cory Mac in the second round at Mid South Nationals Memphis, and head to the semi finals against Morgan Lucas and Team Geico.

Memphis - Lead by team owner Dexter Tuttle, the Color Fast Top Fuel Dragster team has only raced twice this season but already driver Steve Torrence is turning heads in the grandstands and in the pits. After a respectable outing in Dallas, the team continues to impress and went all the way to the semifinal round at the 22nd annual O’Reilly Mid-South Nationals presented by Pennzoil.

Torrence qualified twelfth with a 3.91 at 307 MPH which set up a first round duel with Midwest veteran driver Pat Danken. Torrence left first and never looked back as Dankin went up in smoke. Torrence recorded a solid 3.92 at 305 MPH to advance to round two. In the second round the competition didn't get any easier as Torrence faced Cory McClenathan. Once again Torrence was out of the gate first with a 0.086 to McClenathan’s 0.101. Torrence was on a mission and got to the stripe first with his best run of the weekend, a sizzling 3.88 at 305 MPH. Cory Mac’s engine let go in a spectacular ball of fire but still ran a 4.19 in a valiant effort.

In the semifinal round Torrence faced Morgan Lucas driving the Gieco car. Lucas was out first with a 0.053 reaction time to Torrence’s close 0.066. Lucas stepped it up and kept the lead all the way to the finish line in a race to close to call from the starting line. Lucas won the round with a 3.84 at 308 MPH to Torrence’s very competitive 3.86 at 308 MPH.

While it was a very tough defeat for the Colorfast team, they demonstrated through consistency and a very good team effort that they will be a tough team to beat the rest of the season. Photo Credit NHRA / Auto Imagery

Colorfast Team Returns to NHRA Top Fuel Action at Fall Nationals



After sitting out for most of the 2009 season the Tuttle Motorsports team with Steve Torrence behind the wheel made their first appeance of the year in Dallas at the O'Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals. From the first qualifying session through eliminations, Torrence showed little rust and the entire team lead by owner Dexter Tuttle had a great first outing.

Torrence qualified the Colorfast Top Fuel dragster in the nineth position with a very respetable 3.90 at 310 MPH and faced Brandon Bernstein in the first round. At the light, Torrence got off the line first with a 0.073 to Bernstein's 0.080 reaction time. But Torrence smoked the tires and had to lift. Bernstein went on to take the win.

The team plans to compete at the O'Reilly Midsouth Nationals in Memphis on Oct. 2-4, at the Las Vegas Nationals, Oct. 29 - Nov. 1 and possibly at the season finale, the Auto Club Nationals in Pomona, Nov. 12-15. Photo by Joe Sherwood