Steve Torrence, NHRA Drag Racer at SEMA

Rick talks with NHRA drag racer, Steve Torrence at the massive SEMA Show in Las Vegas.

Steve and his dad race for the same team and he’s still in contention  for the NHRA title with one race remaining.

The most dominant Top Fuel Driver of this decade!

Steve Torrence’s rise to the pinnacle of drag racing success is one of the great Horatio Alger moments in American motorsports.

Diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma as a teenager, he underwent months of radiation and chemotherapy treatment before emerging cancer free and ready to make the most of his second chance. The experience, which he considers “the biggest race I’ve ever won,” completely changed his perspective, spawning the laser focus that fueled his later success both on and off the track.

After losing the 2017 NHRA Top Fuel championship on the final day of the season, an outcome likely sealed weeks earlier when his primary race car was destroyed in a 300-mph crash at the Texas Motorplex outside Dallas, he left nothing to chance the following season when he became the first and only driver in any racing discipline to sweep all the events comprising NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship.

Nevertheless, that proved to be only the beginning for the talented Texan, who remains the only driver ever to have won NHRA series championships in both the Fuel and Alcohol categories. Thirteen years before he hoisted that first Top Fuel Champion’s trophy, he won the Lucas Oil Top Alcohol dragster title by reaching the final round in 11 of 13 starts while posting a 37-4 elimination record.

He repeated as Top Fuel Champion in 2019, won yet again in a 2020 season abbreviated by the COVID-19 pandemic and made it four straight in 2021.

In winning 11 of 20 races during that 2021 campaign, the one-time black belt in taekwondo became just the fourth driver in NHRA pro racing history to secure as many as four consecutive championships, joining Don Prudhomme, Kenny Bernstein, John Force, Lee Shepherd, Bob Glidden and fellow Top Fuel driver Tony Schumacher.

Rick talks to Steve about all that, new technology and more!

Limpert Tech on iHeartRadio 11/12/22 - Bob Wilber, Author, ‘How Far?': Drag Racing, Sports PR

Rick talks to Bob Wilber this week.

Have a listen:

Wilber’s book How Far? explores the incredible friendship that blossoms between a baseball player from Southern California and a hockey player from Minnesota. How Far? is an inspiring story that isn’t just for sports fans — it’s for anyone who wants to be motivated to keep working toward their goals and overcome life’s inevitable setbacks.

Plot:

As the son of a major league baseball player and a former baseball player himself, author Bob Wilber has lived the athlete life, and in his new book, How Far?, Wilber weaves the compelling story of two disparate athletes who meet and form an unlikely bond. His creative use of first-person writing, having his fictional protagonists appear to write the book themselves in their distinct voices, immerses readers in every thought and word of the two characters.

Brooks Bennett is a gifted baseball player (and the son of artist hippies) from Southern California, and Eric Olson is an undersized hockey player from Roseau, Minnesota — where hockey is king. The two men come from vastly different worlds and couldn’t be more dissimilar. And in one spontaneous moment, their paths cross, and their lives change forever.

How Far? follows their serendipitous meeting and what happens as they each experience the emotional and physical highs and lows of their careers. Wilber takes readers on deep dives into the worlds of amateur and professional sports, down to the richest and most evocative details. On the ice, on the field, in the locker rooms and while facing life’s many personal challenges, the two characters tell the tale as it really is.

How Far? is a story that will appeal to sports fans as well as anyone who appreciates an inspiring story of personal growth and perseverance.

“When asked if it’s a sports book, my answer is, ‘It’s a life book, told through a sports lens,’” Wilber said.

Bob Wilber is no stranger to the world of sports. The son of Major League player Del Wilber, Bob Wilber grew up playing baseball. He graduated from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville with a bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Journalism, then went on to play several seasons of minor league baseball for the Detroit Tigers and the Oakland A’s. When his playing days were over, Wilber spent time as a regional scouting supervisor for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Wilber also grew up with a passion for writing, and ended up journeying through the world of international sports marketing before he was a senior executive for three professional indoor soccer franchises. An interest in NHRA drag racing led to his 22 years as a public relations representative and team manager for professional racers. Wilber published his autobiography Bats, Balls, & Burnouts in 2017. How Far? is his first work of fiction.

A great talk with Bob, have a listen.