It’s official.

Steve Torrence is starting to solve his hex against Antron Brown.

After entering the day with an overall record of 2-22 against Brown, Torrence downed the 2016 world champion Sunday in the finals of the Route 66 Nationals with a pass of 3.779 seconds at 326.08 mph to Brown's 3.796 at 326.71. The margin of victory was .007.

“That monkey has been on my back for a long time,” said Torrence, referring to his lackluster record against Brown. “He’s one of my best friends in the entire world. It brings the best out of us when we race each other. I hope the tables have turned my way a little bit.”

It was the fifth win of the season for Torrence.

Torrence admitted that seeing Brown in the opposite line has toyed with his mind in past years.

“I didn’t have a good car the first half of the races that we faced Antron. After that, it was a mental block,”  Torrence said. “You try hard and do things that you wouldn’t normally do with the intentions of beating Antron instead of just doing what you need to do.”

As his equipment and brain trust has improved, Torrence said he has gradually found a comfort zone against his popular rival.

“Finally, I pushed things out of my mind,” Torrence said. “I put [Brown] at the pinnacle of our sport with the team they field and the driver he is. He’s got the all-around package. If I would say that I was trying to emulate anybody, it’s Antron because he’s always on his game.”

Torrence wasn’t surprised at the razor-thin result against Brown Sunday.

“I knew he would bring his A-game,” Torrence said. “When we race each other, both of us are going to be at our best. It’s no longer in my mind to do anything but race my car and try to leave on everybody.”

The misery for Torrence against Brown included a 2012 final round at Route 66 where Torrence fouled out at the starting line.

Brown, who also to Torrence in the June 11 finals of the NHRA Summernationals at Englishtown, New Jersey, said he enjoyed the tight competition Sunday where he crafted three of the top four runs.

En route to the finals, Brown worked past Doug Kalitta, Leah Pritchett and recent first-time winner Clay Millican. Brown cut a better light than Torrence, but Torrence chased him down just before the finish line.

“That was just a great drag race,” Brown said. “We were trying to step it up in the finals. The track got better and just ate it up a little bit. That’s all right, though. The good thing is that our Toyota is on the right track and we’re coming. Hopefully, once when we get it we won’t let up. The Western Swing is coming and we’re hungry right now.

TJ Zizzo, in his first run since last year’s U.S. Nationals, advanced to the semifinals before falling to Torrence.

Torrence has built his lead in the Top Fuel standings to 50 points against Leah Pritchett and 81 points over Brown.

“With the car that I have right now along with the performance and the way I’ve been driving, I feel like that we can go beat anybody at anytime,” said Torrence, who has 13 career wins.

Torrence said he can’t wait until the next event on Jun 21-23 in Denver.

“This is one of those situations where you don’t really want to stop. You want to race every week and not slow that momentum down,” Torrence said.

Torrence said he can appreciate the frustrations of his Top Fuel foes.

“It’s mental for the other guys because know that they have to be the best they can be to beat us. I’ve been on that other side of that more than I’ve been on this side. It just feels really great to have a car like this and to have the confidence in your tuner and every one of your guys to know that they’re doing the job.”

As for his latest conquest of Brown, Torrence said he hopes he left a forceful impression on his competition.

“We’re showing up with bombs to drop,’’ Torrence said.  “We quit having bullets. Now, we’re just dropping bombs on them. It’s a huge confidence builder and I’m just blessed to have a family that supports drag racing as much as I do.”