Like many professional drivers in the National Hot Rod Association, Steve Torrence, pilot of the Capco top fuel dragster grew up at the drag strip.

Unlike other drivers he has experienced tragedy that both propelled his career forward and brought it to a halt.

An accident which killed a driver led to an incredible run for Torrence in 2005 after a battle with cancer in 2000 put him on the sidelines.

“That was probably the biggest victory of all (beating cancer),” Torrence said. “That was way bigger than any Wally I’ve ever won. It’s been a life changing experience.”

Yet Torrence has overcome that as well as all of the obstacles it takes to put together a race team and has come screaming out the gate this season, going to four finals and coming away with two event wins while coming into the 25th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways in fourth place in the top fuel class.

“We started 2012 just with the hopes of being somewhat competitive,” Torrence said. “I don’t think we could’ve plotted it out any better than that.”

All this after racing just three full seasons since starting in top fuel in 2006.

His father, Billy, raced sportsman from the time Torrence was 6 years old. Before he got behind the wheel of a super comp car at the age of 15, Torrence had raced motorcycles but had bypassed the more typical entry into drag racing, the Junior Dragster series.

In 2004, Torrence went to Frank Hawley’s driving school to earn his alcohol dragster license, then in April 2005 tragedy struck another family.

“Shelly Howard was killed in an accident,” Torrence said. “I was called by her husband and crew chief to see if I wanted her seat. I went in and fit in well with the team. We started racing in June and I had never driven anything other than what I had gotten my license in.”

Torrence drove in 13 races in the alcohol dragster previously driven by Howard. He made it to 11 finals and won nine of them en route to the NHRA Top Alcohol crown.

“If you don’t believe in God that season would at least make you believe in miracles,” Torrence said.

In 2006 Torrence got the chance to move into the pro ranks when he drove Dexter Tuttle’s top fuel dragster.

“It was a pretty big transition, but, not really as great as going from sportsman to alcohol,” Torrence said. “Te quickest and fastest I had ever run in an alcohol car was when I went 5.20 at 227 mph. It’s a pretty drastic jump to say the least. When these things take off you thought you were going pretty fast in an alcohol car, it keeps going as hard as you left if not harder.”

Not a surprise given the fact a top fuel dragster can top out at over 300 mph by the time it reaches the finish line 1,000 feet down track while generating close to 8,000 horsepower. And the long, skinny cars can — when the conditions are right — make it down the drag strip in under four seconds thanks to the nitromethane-gasoline fuel mixture used in them as well as the funny cars.

What he’s accomplished this season is pretty amazing, too, though given the fact Torrence put his team together in three and a half months.

“We raced the last three races of 2006,” Torrence said. “That’s when the demise of Torco Fuels began. I didn’t race in 2007, sporadically in 2008. I raced the full season in 2010. Capco was still on the car, Capco is our family business. Last year we started the season and about halfway through we decided to start our own family top fuel team. We ran the last few races of last year just to get our feet wet.”

With crew chief Richard Hogan on board, Torrence has been able to put together quite a run so far, and he hopes to continue that trend.

“It maintains a level of professionalism and the expectations of what we’re trying to achieve over here,” he said. “We haven’t really changed our goals we’ve just reached them a lot sooner than we expected. Now we’re at a point where we try to maintain consistency and solidify ourselves as a championship contending team.”

Heading into the Northwest Nationals, the final stop on the three-race Western Swing, Torrence said he is confident in Hogan’s ability to tune the car for whatever the weather conditions are be they 100 degree temperatures or 75 and cloudy.

“I feel like right now we’re in a pretty safe position, knock on wood, unless something catastrophic happens we’ll still be in fourth (after the swing),” Torrence said. “We have some opportunities to gain some ground and move into third. We’re capable of running in these conditions as well as 100 degree conditions. As for me, I just keep doing my job, practice on the tree and continue to be the machine and flawless.”