The DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car and J.R. Todd continued their hot start to the 2021 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season racing to the quarterfinals at the NHRA SpringNationals outside of Houston today. Todd has advanced to at least the quarterfinals at every NHRA national event this season. Last weekend the DHL team grabbed a runner-up finish at the Charlotte Four-Wide Nationals and today as the No. 8 qualifier they came up just short of another semifinal finish.
Todd was one of the fortunate Funny Cars to have two qualifying runs on Saturday before the rains moved in and halted qualifying action. The DHL Toyota Camry team jumped up into the top half of the field with a 3.994 second run to close out the session. Racing action was postponed from Sunday to Monday after persistent rain showers covered Houston Raceway Park with only one pair of Top Fuel dragsters remaining in the first round on Sunday.
On Monday morning under overcast skies Todd pulled up beside John Force who was the only driver quicker than him last weekend in the final quad in North Carolina. Today it was Todd getting the win with a strong 3.916 second elapsed time and 327.43 mph run. Todd and the DHL Toyota Funny Car never trailed in the race. The win moved Todd to the quarterfinals and also solidified his position as the No. 2 Funny Car in the NHRA Camping World point standings.
In the next round Todd drew the No. 1 qualifier Bob Tasca III with the chance to close the gap on the point leader. Todd took a sizeable lead off the starting line with a .061 to .100 reaction time advantage when the starting line Christmas Tree activated. Todd’s DHL Camry was charging hard the first half of the race and he was noticeably pulling away before Tasca got around him just before the finish line. The elapsed times were close, 3.993 to 3.923 seconds, when the reaction times were factored in the race was decided by .03 seconds or just about fifteen feet at over 320 mph.
“I am fired up to have a race car this quick and today just wasn’t our day,” said Todd. “We are off to a great start this season and we are about two rounds out of first place. I want to get more wins for this DHL Toyota Camry team and we are capable of getting on a streak. I am looking forward to a couple days off and then we will be right back at it in Epping.”
The DHL team will head to Epping, New Hampshire for the next NHRA national event just 42 points out of first place.
Quotable:
J.R. Todd on battling elements: “Everyone had to deal with the rain this weekend. We lost a qualifying session but we were lucky to get two runs on Saturday. We made the most of our opportunities for sure. I am glad this DHL Funny Car is running so well. We had a good couple of weekends.”
Statistics:
Qualified: No. 8 (3.994 sec., 322.58 mph)
Bonus points: 0
Race Details:
First Round
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH
J.R. Todd 8 .067 3.916 327.43 (W)
John Force 9 .082 3.971 323.35
Second Round
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH
J.R. Todd 8 .061 3.993 323.43
Bob Tasca III 1 .100 3.923 327.98 (W)
Kalitta Motorsports PR
