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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Steve Torrence is known to save his best for last, especially last drag races, which is why the four-time world champion and his CAPCO Contractors Top Fuel Toyota are on the short list of top contenders this weekend as Heartland Motorsports Park plays host for the 34th and final time to the Menard’s NHRA Nationals presented by Pet Armor.
Steve Torrence, left, shares a moment with Team CAPCO crew chief Richard Hogan. The two hope to collaborate for a win this week in the final NHRA tour event at Heartland Motorsports Park. [Photo by Will Lester]
Steve Torrence executes a burnout in his CAPCO Contractors dragster. The four-time world champion will compete this weekin the 34th and final Menard's Nationals. [Photo by Mark Rebilas]
This will be the eighth time in his pro career Torrence has raced in a venue’s final NHRA tour event and the third time he’s done so this year alone.
In the previous seven farewells, Torrence has won more rounds than any other racer in any pro category (18), won 75 percent of the two-car heats in which he was involved, and never failed to at least reach or surpass the semifinals.
Combine that stellar record with Torrence's recent history at HMP -- runner-up in 2022 to close friend Antron Brown, a '19 victory over his faher, Billy, in an all-CAPCO final round, and six straight semifinal appearances, and it’s easy to see why the 40-year-old Texan and his CAPCO team will be in spotlight in Topeka.
“The biggest thing is that we’ve finally got a car again that responds to what Hoagie (crew chief Richard Hogan) and Bobby (Lagana Jr.) tell it to do,” Torrence said in a team release. “We won four championships on consistency and that’s what we’re getting back to, being able to make the adjustments that give us the best chance (for success) whatever the conditions are.”
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Brent Reese-Hackett is getting a late start in his new position as Topeka West's head girls basketball coach, but will be looking to use his impressive background as a player and experience as a coach to make up for long time.
Former TCU basketball standout Brent Reese-Hackett is the new head girls basketball coach at Topeka West. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Reese-Hackett is taking over for Jeff Skar, who resigned after the 2022-2023 season, and Reese-Hackett was a late hire after Topeka West hit a snag that delayed the hiring process, accepting the job last month as teams across the state were finishing up their summer offseason work.
"It was late,'' Reese-Hackett admitted. "I looked at an email (Monday) and the accepted offer was July 11th.''
But it's hard to question Reese-Hackett's basketball pedigree, which could come into play as the new West coach plays catchup.
A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Reese-Hackett was a standout at Division I Texas Christian University from 2004-2008, appearing in 122 games with 88 starts.
Reese-Hackett finished his career with 1,098 points for the Horned Frogs while connecting on 190 3-pointers.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The 2022 college football season turned in an instant for Washburn University tight end Trey Pivarnik.
Trey Pivarnik
Pivarnik, a 6-foot-4, 245-pound junior, went from thinking he had scored his first college touchdown against rival Emporia State to embarking on a long road back from a serious ankle injury.
After hauling in a pass from Kellen Simoncic, the former Hayden standout thought he got in the end zone against the Hornets, but in rapid fire order, the official ruled that Pivarnik was stopped outside the end zone and a second or so later he began to feel extreme pain.
After a long recovery from a serious ankle injury, Hayden product Trey Pivarnik is looking to have a big junior season for Washburn. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
"I did think I scored and that's why I stood up and when I stood up I felt my ankle dislocated and I thought, 'Oh shoot, something's not right.' '' Pivarnik said. "I was so excited, thinking that I had scored and wanted to stand up and celebrate with my teammates and that wasn't going to happen.
"I tore all the ligaments in my ankle and dislocated my peroneal tendon and actually dislocated my ankle on impact.''
Pivarnik suffered another setback midway through his recovery.
"I originally rehabbed for four months, went through all of that and started getting ready for spring ball and started running routes and had a couple of pops,'' Pivarnik said. "I got re-evaluated again and they found out that my tendon had not located yet and I had a couple of ligaments that still needed to be tightened up so I had to get surgery during spring ball.''
The good news is that Pivarnik has made major strides and was back on the field for the start of WU's fall camp on Monday and soon expects to be at full strength.
"My recovery's going really good. I'm going to be (100 percent),'' he said.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Former Silver Lake star Shannon Kruger and former Hayden star Corrinne (Stringer) McGreevy are returning to their alma maters as head coaches, part of a group of 18 new varsity head coaches who have been announced by Shawnee County high schools for the 2023-2024 school year.
Former Hayden star Corrinne (Stringer) McGreevy will take over as the Wildcats' volleyball coach this fall. [File photo/TSN]
Kruger, a former Silver Lake multi-sport standout and a Washburn University Hall of Famer, takes over as the Eagles' head boys basketball coach, while McGreevy is the new Hayden volleyball coach after starring for the Wildcats in that sport.
Former Shawnee Heights All-Stater and Cair Paravel Latin coach Trey Brown is the new boys basketball coach at Hayden. [File photo/TSN]
Joining Kruger as a new head coach for Silver Lake is Colt Rogers, who is taking over as the Eagles' wrestling coach, while former Shawnee Heights star and Cair Paravel Latin coach Trey Brown is Hayden's new boys basketball coach.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Heartland Motorsports Park has been a staple on the NHRA national drag racing schedule since the facility opened in 1989, hosting at least one national event every season except 2020 when Topeka's largest sporting event was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
But the facility that bills itself as the "House of Speed'' will end hits long and distinguished assocation with the NHRA on Sunday at the conclusion of the 2023 Menards NHRA Nationals presented by PetArmor, with event scheduled to move to Odessa, Mo. in 2024.
But while Sunday will be a sad day for Topeka and area drag racing fans, Heartland Motorsports Park, formerly Heartland Park Topeka, will leave behind a proud legacy.
With the final national event set to kick off on Friday, here’s a look back at 15 of the great moments in Topeka drag racing history from the perspective of someone who's had the privilege of attending every national event since the track opened:
Drag racing legend John Force won the Funny Car title at Heartland Motorsports Park in 2021, his track-record 10th Topeka win. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
1. John Force called his Funny Car win at Heartland in 2008 the biggest of his career. That’s saying a lot for a driver who has won 16 championships and an NHRA-record 155 national events as a driver and 22 world championships as an owner with John Force Racing.
What made the 2008 victory stand out for the drag racing legend was that it was Force’s first victory after a serious crash at Dallas in '07 that ended his season and put his career in jeopardy.
“Coming back from that wreck, that race was key,” Force told The Topeka Capital-Journal in an interview. “It showed that I could still drive, that I could still cut it.
"I knew even then my legs were still weak. I struggled just getting in and out of the car, but to get that win after a year of rehab was huge -- to be there and hear those fans scream the way they did.”
2. In 1990 the late Gary Ormsby put Topeka on the national racing map, becoming the first driver in NHRA history to break the 4.9-second and 295 mile-per-hour barriers in his Top Fuel dragster, clicking off a pass of 4.881 seconds at 296.06 mph.
Ormsby, who won the 1989 Top Fuel championship, died after a battle with cancer on Aug. 28, 1991. Ormsby ran his final race at HMP, defeating Lori Johns in a match race.
Ormsby will always be linked with Heartland Park, with the main entrance into the facility named Gary Ormsby Drive after his death.
3. The 1993 Sears Craftsman Nationals at HMP delivered a double dose of history in the Funny Car class when Chuck Etchells and Jim Epler both broke the four-second and 300-mph barriers.
Etchells became the first Funny Car racer to run in the fours with a 4.987 pass while Epler recorded the first 300-mph run with a 300.40 pass.
Former Funny Car star Courtney Force posted the 100th win by a woman in NHRA history at Heartland Motorsports Park in 2014. [Photo by NHRA]
4. Courtney Force topped Cruz Pedregon in the 2014 Funny Car final at HMP to post the 100th event win by a woman in NHRA history.
