Heading into race day at the NHRA Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway J.R. Todd and the DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car were looking to continue their move up the Funny Car point standings. After two days of qualifying Todd entered race day as the No. 9 qualifier in a tight Funny Car field. His best run of 3.915 seconds at 330.39 mph locked him into a first round race with fellow Countdown contending Funny Car driver Tim Wilkerson.
In an impressive display of stepping up on race day Todd blasted into the quarterfinals with his best run of the weekend, a blistering 3.895 second run at 330.39 mph. The run was flawless from start to finish. Todd left the starting line first and his Todd Smith tuned Toyota Camry Funny Car stayed glued to the track to continue his streak of first round wins. The 2018 Funny Car champion has only failed to reach the quarterfinals one time this season.
In the quarterfinals Todd pulled up beside No. 1 qualifier and eventual race winner Matt Hagan. It was a great race with Todd racing beside Hagan for the first 400 feet and then his Goodyears lost traction. Todd’s Camry made a sudden move to the left and he was forced to lift to stay in his lane.
“We knew we needed to be aggressive in the second round,” said Todd. “We had a really good run in the first round to get the win over Wilkerson. If we could have duplicated that in the quarterfinals, I would have liked our chances. There are four races left and we need to go deeper on race day to be in the mix in Pomona. This DHL team is definitely battling.”
Todd will head to Texas Motorplex and the Texas NHRA Fall Nationals in fifth place in the Funny Car point standings.
Statistics:
Qualified: No. 9 (3.915 sec, 330.72 mph
Bonus points: 0
Race Details:
First Round
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH
J. R. Todd 9 .082 3.895 330.39 (W)
Tim Wilkerson 8 .088 4.220 222.22
Second Round
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH
J. R. Todd 9 .078 4.571 182.21
Matt Hagan 1 .065 3.894 332.18 (W)
Kalitta Motorsports PR
