Steve Torrence didn’t need to sign with Toyota. Running as independents on the NHRA Top Fuel circuit, Torrence Racing did just fine with Steve and father Billy claiming trophies from coast to coast. Steve has been dominant, in fact, with 51 wins and four consecutive championships. But last September, Torrence announced that both Capco Contractors teams would compete under the Toyota banner.
The reason has nothing to do with racing and everything to do with what happened after a near-tragic accident on a remote highway in Indiana one August night in 2020.
—–
On Aug. 9 at Lucas Oil Raceway near Indianapolis, Steve Torrence and his team wrapped up the weekend celebrating their second Top Fuel victory. Hours later, shortly after 11 p.m., one of those crew members, Dom Lagana, was driving a car also occupied by former Top Fuel driver Richie Crampton and crew member Jake Sanders.
According to police reports, the vehicle went off the road and hit a utility pole. Crampton and Sanders escaped with minor injuries, but Lagana was knocked unconscious and briefly trapped in the car, which caught fire. Lagana suffered a severe brain injury and bad burns to his legs that required amputations above the knees. They were life-threatening injuries, and Lagana spent nearly two months in a coma with those closest to him unsure if he’d survive.
“There were times through everything we didn’t know if we’d have Dom. It was touch and go,” Torrence said. “I’m probably in a different mindset than most people — I’ve had cancer, a heart attack, a lot of things that have happened and I’m a fighter. But sometimes, there’s a point where you just call it. And there was part of me that didn’t know if it was time to call it for Dom. His head trauma was terrible.
“Then he wakes up and I’m like, ‘I’m glad I wasn’t in charge of the plug here. I might have pulled it on you, Dom.’”
Miraculously, Lagana pulled through, although he still doesn’t remember much of the accident.
What Lagana does remember is trying to wrap his head around how much time he’d lost, being visited by brother Bobby and the Torrence family. He remembers thinking about racing and missing his team. Lagana also felt terrible that he missed his wedding date, which was supposed to be Sept. 11, 2020. (Lagana and fiancee Sara did marry a little over a year later).
Lagana couldn’t stay away from racing even while recovering. In the hospital, he watched events on his iPad and longed for the day he could get his hands dirty again. Being stationary — and needing help with eating and using the bathroom — isn’t for Lagana.
“I remember my brother (being) in the middle of a championship hunt and working his butt off, and when he’d come to visit, he’d say, ‘Hey, whatever you want to do, if you don’t want to race anymore, we’ll get rid of all of our equipment. We’ll find other jobs,’” said Lagana. “I looked him in the eye and said, ‘Hey man, I definitely want to get back to racing as long as you want to. I definitely want to get back to work on Billy and Steve’s cars. Obviously, I know stuff is going to be different, but that’s going to be my huge motivation to get back.’ It was a no-brainer for me. It’s been my life’s passion.”
Lagana’s first accomplishment was being released from the hospital right before Thanksgiving, 103 days after the accident. In February 2021, Lagana got his prosthetics as he worked through outpatient therapy, eventually returning to the race shop and work.
Next came returning to the racetrack. One year after the accident, Lagana entered his family’s Nitro Ninja dragster (that he’s driven) in Michigan with drivers Gary Pritchett and Clay Millican. It had not been to the racetrack since 2019.
Over time, Lagana went from being at the track and back working on the Torrence cars to being up for going to the staging lanes and starting line. At first, Lagana didn’t want to be a distraction, so he stayed in the lounge of the hauler. As he got stronger, Lagana went to the starting line but remained in a golf kart off to the side.
“I said to my brother, Billy, Kay [Torrence], and Steve, I didn’t want to be out at the racetrack just because people felt bad for me and wanted me to come hang out,” said Lagana. “I wanted to make sure — and I knew it would take a while physically — that I was able to contribute to the better of the teams.
“I knew I couldn’t run around like a madman like I used to, but I wanted to help the end result of the race cars.”
However, Lagana had no bigger goal than trying to return to an everyday life, which he felt meant getting his independence back. Lagana was riding with Bobby to the racetrack and shop every morning, and he wasn’t walking that well on his own. Around the middle of last season, Lagana started dreaming of being able to drive himself around with a vehicle that would suit his needs of being high enough off the ground to get into and have room for a wheelchair.
“It wasn’t necessarily on the backburner but something that in the future, let me get suited with the proper vehicle for myself,” Lagana said.
Lagana didn’t make a big deal about his goal, but the team knew. Word got around, including to Paul Doleshal, group manager of Toyota North America. Without being asked by anyone associated with Lagana or wanting something in return, Toyota sent a white pickup truck to the Torrence shop. It was a complete shock to Lagana.
“We were in the shop prepping for races, and Bobby and a couple of the guys — obviously you’re with them every day, and you can tell when they’re up to something — and they were kind of acting a little funny,” Lagana said. “I had my wheelchair at the time, and I was just getting around in a walker or a wheelchair only. And sometimes, I would use the walker as my own therapy at the shop to build my muscles up.
“So they said, ‘Hey, come over to the other side of the shop. We have something to show you.’ I stroll over in my walker and I see this pickup truck, and I remember thinking, ‘Man that would be a perfect truck for me.’ And they were like, ‘Well, here’s the keys, it’s yours.’
“I think I actually let out a few curse words. I was almost in tears and almost fell over that a group of people would do something so unselfish of themselves just to help someone. It was awesome.”
Toyota had blessed Lagana in more ways than one. Not only did he now have something to get him more mobile, but it became a tangible thing to keep him motivated in his recovery.
“Right away the wheels are turning, like, ‘Wow, I need to do better in physical therapy so I can start driving again,’” Lagana said. “My key to independence is right in front of me with this pickup truck, and I can drive to work soon. That was a big motivation once I received the truck.”
It took Lagana two months from when he received the truck to be fit to get behind the wheel. He “crushed” physical therapy and got regular hand controls he learned right away, so the truck wasn’t modified too much if wife Sara wanted to drive it. Plus, Lagana was determined to physically get in and out of the truck to pump his own gas or pull up to the house, park and walk inside without assistance.
“Every time I see Paul at the racetrack, or if I text with him, I tell him, ‘You don’t know how much this truck changed my recovery and my life after the accident,’” Lagana said.
Dom and Bobby Lagana have worked for the Torrences since 2013, and Steve calls them his brothers. And so, while Torrence wasn’t directly involved in Lagana getting a truck, it changed everything.
“That’s the reason I’m a Toyota guy now,” Torrence said. “We as Torrence Racing, as a family with all of these guys, we do a lot for people, and it goes unsaid all the time. I think if you have the ability and are fortunate enough to help someone, you should.
“That’s what Toyota did. They helped someone who needed help and didn’t ask for it and wouldn’t ask for it. That kind of action and generosity and outreach for someone as big as Toyota, that right there spoke volumes to all of us.”
With one gift, Torrence saw the respect Toyota treats people with and how it was in line with the values of the Torrence family and team. So Torrence took it upon himself to reach out to the manufacturer.
“I called Antron [Brown] and I said, ‘I need to talk to somebody at Toyota. Who do I need to talk to?’” said Torrence. “He gave me the contact, and I talked to Paul and Slugger [Labbe], and I think Mike Pricer came over, and I met with them. I said we’re an independent team; we don’t have any partners, any affiliation with anyone other than us. What you guys have done — we want to be a part of (your team) because that’s the right thing. That’s doing what the right thing is because it’s right and not because you want or ask for attention. You just did the right thing. I want to represent you.
“We had a conversation, and they said they’d get back to me. I thought I wasted my time, but at least they know what I’m talking about. Well, it came together very quickly.
“Torrence Racing is family. Toyota is a family. Being a part of it has been remarkable.”
In the news conference announcing their partnership, Torrence alluded to the gesture for Lagana by mentioning an important thing for him was how Toyota treated people.
“If something tragic had to happen, that’s the best guy it could happen to just because of his (strong) mindset beforehand,” Torrence said. “He’s been through what he deals with on a day-to-day basis like a true soldier. He’s marched right through it and handled it, and we all are certain there are days better than others and some that are terrible for him, but we never see it. It’s an inspiration for all of us.”
Today, Lagana reports he’s doing “great” and feels back to a normal way of life.
“It’s pretty awesome,” he said. “I’m able to walk around, stand up, work on the race car. There are a few things that are obviously different, but I got back to work. I can get lunch when I’m ready, and I’ve got my own vehicle to come and go from the shop when I please. Everything’s really good on my part. Life is good for me, for sure.”
Oh, Lagana is not only at the starting line this year with the Capco team, he’s ditched the golf kart and is now standing there. Proudly wearing his team colors and a Toyota logo.
“It’s pretty cool,” Lagana said. “Steve would always say, they did so much for you, this is the best way we could repay them. Look at this relationship that spawned from this unfortunate incident that happened to me. So it’s cool that Toyota is on board and everyone is linked up, and all of this good came out of something bad. It’s pretty special. You’re basically expanding a family.”
Torrence is among those most grateful Lagana recovered and is a part of what’s become a bigger family with Toyota. But he won’t say Lagana is all the way back just yet.
“He’s not as back as he will be,” Torrence said. “In my mind, in my opinion, Dom will drive one of these cars again.”