Both cars hazed the tires and dropped cylinders but Torrence rode it out for the win. (Jim Kelso photo)

Defending world champ and points leader Steve Torrence maintained his dominant pace in Top Fuel, picking up his eighth win in the past nine races after going 4.044 at 270.21 in the final round in his Capco Contractors dragster to beat Clay Millican’s 4.126 at 267.64.

The win at the 40th annual Dodge Mile-High NHRA Nationals presented by Pennzoil gave Torrence 27 wins in a three-year period, moving him past Tony Schumacher in the NHRA Top Fuel history books. He tied Don Garlits for career wins (35) and was also the first driver to go over 330 mph at the extreme altitude of Denver.

In the final he faced his good friend, Clay Millican, who had trouble during qualifying, but came back strong on raceday.

“A couple of hillbillys racing in the final,” Torrence laughed. “Clay’s a great guy, a great driver and that’s a helluva race team he’s got over there. I suspect we’ll be seeing a lot more of them once we get into the Countdown.”

Johnson was late off the line (.092 to Tasca’s .059) but caught him by the eighth mile and went on for the win.  (Jim Kelso photo)

Tommy Johnson Jr. made his first Funny Car final round at Bandimere Speedway in 1991 but it took until this year to get the win at the Mile-High Nationals. Johnson raced to his second victory of 2019 going 4.102 seconds at 308.50 mph in his Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat to beat Bob Tasca’s 4.158 at 302.14 in the final round.

Johnson was undefeated in seven previous meetings with Tasca, who has had a resurgence this year, and made it eight straight.

This was the first time Anderson and Hartford met in a final round. (Ron Lewis photo)

Pro Stock veteran Anderson won for the second straight year in Denver, picking up his first victory of the season and 92nd in his career after going 6.950 at 196.96 in his Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro to beat Matt Hartford’s 6.965 at 196.96.

"It’s been a really long year," said Anderson, whose last victory came at Bandimere Speedway last season. "This is for you guys at Summit Racing; thank you for sticking with me. Maybe this will kickstart our season. I knew we were peaking. I knew we were gaining ground the last few races, and we put it all together here without a doubt."

Anderson has been on a steady climb this season, starting off slowly but then moving up in the standings bit by bit, with two semifinals and one final round performance over the course of the last four events. With the win in Denver, he is now No. 2 in the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Pro Stock points, with only KB Racing-powered Bo Butner ahead of him.

Krawiec (far lane) was off the line first, but Hines came on to get the win. Krawiec’s record is now 14-12 in final-round competition with his teammate.  (Ron Lewis photo)

Points leader Andrew Hines continued to roll in Pro Stock Motorcycle, picked up his sixth win in eight races this year by going 7.174 at 186.67 in the final round on his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson FXDR to beat teammate Eddie Krawiec’s 7.222 at 186.38. Hines, the winningest driver in the class, also became the first rider in Pro Stock Motorcycle to reach 500 career round wins on Sunday.

Hines, who extended his points lead, put together an impressive result in the debut race of the new FXDR, beating Cory Reed, Hector Arana and defending world champ Matt Smith en route to the win. Krawiec reached the final round with victories against Karen Stoffer, Jerry Savoie and defending event winner Hector Arana Jr.

“Rolling out this new FXDR, it’s been so much work these last few months,” Hines said. “Bringing that motorcycle here, we didn’t know what quite to expect, but we put them both in the final round. You’ve got to have the full preparation and make sure your mind is right coming to these national events. Everybody in the class can step up at any time, and it seems like my bike has been in the right place at the right time in the right round. We just ride the wave when we can.”     [07/22/19]

The No. 1 qualifiers in all three professional classes parlayed their qualifying success into event victories Saturday evening at the Professional Drag Racers Association  Northern Nationals presented by Callies Performance at Dragway 42 in West Salem, Ohio.

Pro Boost: Kris Thorne, 3.716, 212.36 def. Kevin Rivenbark, 3.178, 199.73.

Pro Nitrous: Tommy Franklin, 3.69, 204.36 def. Jim Halsey, 3.739, 194.22

Extreme Pro Stock: John Montecalvo, holeshot, 4.151, 172.81 def. Elijah Morton, 4.135, 174.28

Walter Lannigan Jr. (far lane) earned the largest payday in Pro Outlaw 632 history, as he won the special non-points Pro Outlaw 632 Shootout presented by $hameless Racing. The win came with a $7,500 prize. It was a double-red light race with Tony Gillig.  (Roger Richards photos)

Also earning the Northern Nationals “660 Man” trophies in the sportsman classes were Glenn Butcher in MagnaFuel Elite Top Sportsman, Zack Fisher in Lucas Oil Elite Top Dragster, Buddy Perkinson in Top Sportsman 32 and Noah Johnson in Top Dragster 32. Joe Soucek Jr. won the Edelbrock Bracket Bash competition.

In Coolshirt Pro Jr. Dragster presented by Knoxtown Products, Melanie Sheets left the starting line first and went 7.994 to defeat Makala Stevens’ breakout 7.899, both a 7.90 dial-in. Connor Shields scored the Gilbert Motorsports Top Jr. Dragster win when he ran 8.111 on an 8.13 dial-in alongside Gabe Milligan, who red-lighted and went 8.348 on an 8.29 dial-in.

The next stop on the 2019 PDRA Tour is PDRA Drag Wars VI presented by Pro Line Racing, Sept. 5-7 at GALOT Motorsports Park in Benson, NC.   [07/22/19]

Greg “Jake” Jacobsmeyer was the winner of the nostalgia Funny Cars portion of the annual Night of Fire at Cedar Falls, IA. We’ll have more details coming soon. [07/22/19]

As the Agent told you earlier, there will be a 32-car field for the Factory Stock Showdown at this year’s U.S. Nationals. NHRA cited “ever-increasing interest from racers, fans and manufacturers” for the class.

“We are thrilled to see the SAMTech.edu NHRA Factory Stock Showdown category continue to grow,” said Brian Massingill, vice president of business development for SAM Tech, sponsor of the series. “Just a few years ago, the category competed with an eight-car field at four events. The drivers, teams and manufacturers have really elevated this category, making it a fan favorite in a short amount of time.”

The points structure for this 32-car field is set as follows: Winner: 120; Runner-Up: 100; Semi-finals: 80; Third Round: 60; Second Round: 40; First Round: 20

The NHRA has made several rules changes to the class this year, forcing the participants to spend unexpected dollars to keep up, which has caused some grumbling among some of the racers.  [07/22/19]