Steve Torrence was smiling Friday night after completing his second qualifying run for Sunday’s Toyo Tires Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway. 

“That was a pretty good way to start the weekend,” he said.  “We were sixth after our first run (3.922 seconds at 306.52 mph) so we tried to see how low we could go on our last run, but the tires shook.”

Torrence shut of the motor and the Capco Racing/Tuttle Motorsports Top Fuel dragster coasted the rest of the way down the 1000-foot track.  His first-round time was eighth best overall. 

“That was a pretty powerful tire shake,” he noted. “It shook so hard that two bolts came off the clutch. 

“We stayed in the top half of the lineup and conditions are supposed to be good Saturday,” he added.  “We’ll see what we can do then.”