Last year J.R Todd and the DHL Toyota Funny Car team had their best weekend at the Thunder Valley Nationals racing to a runner-up finish against Toyota teammate Alexis DeJoria. Todd and his DHL team had a consistently fast and quick hot rod that dropped a close race and has motivated the 2018 Funny Car world champion for this weekend’s national event. The Thunder Valley Nationals returns to its traditional Father’s Day weekend spot on the schedule and for Todd, the 10-time Funny Car national event winner, it would be a great time to add win No. 11.
“Last fall at Bristol I feel like we had a car that should have won that race,” said Todd. “We were running great all day and then in the final we did everything right, but it just wasn’t our day. I have a lot of confidence heading back there and I definitely feel like we have some unfinished business for sure.”
Todd has been racing a brand-new DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car all season and the veteran driver would like to be the first of the three Toyota Funny Car drivers to get into the winner’s circle. Two weeks ago Todd raced to the semifinals before losing to eventual New England Nationals winner Matt Hagan. The DHL team has been working on building consistency while figuring out the new dynamics of the Supra body, which by all accounts is a huge step forward for the team.
“I am excited about driving this DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car every race,” said Todd. “Everything about it is cool. It looks fast just sitting in our DHL pit area. When I get strapped in, I can see a lot better and I am getting more comfortable every race. Epping was a big step forward and now we just need to keep rolling in Bristol. I know (crew chiefs) Todd (Smith) and Jon O (Oberhofer) will be ready to go and so will all the Yella Fellas.”
Todd is solidly in the Funny Car Top Ten sitting sixth just over two rounds out of fifth place. With eight races left in the regular season Todd feels confident he can make an aggressive move up in the standings and be in a good spot for the playoff push at the end of the season.
“You can’t look too far ahead but these next two weeks and the Western Swing will be a great opportunity for our DHL Toyota team to make a move,” said Todd. “We have had good success at a lot of those tracks and this DHL team is hungry for another win.”
This weekend’s Thunder Valley Nationals will be broadcast nationally on the Fox network on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET. Three rounds of qualifying will precede race day with Todd and the DHL Toyota GR Supra getting qualifying underway on Friday night.
2021 NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals Highlights: RUNNER-UP; Qual. No. 12; Beat Beat Matt Hagan, John Force, Ron Capps; Lost to Alexis DeJoria
Last Event Recap 2022 New England Nationals: Qual 10; Beat Blake Alexander, Cruz Pedregon; Lost to Matt Hagan
Career Stats: 263 events, 255 starts, 288 round wins, 19 wins, 40 finals, 14 No. 1 qualifiers; In Funny Car: 111 events, 111 starts, 10 wins, 20 finals, 140 round wins, 5 No. 1 qualifiers
2022 Results
Winternationals: Qual 8; Beat Bobby Bode; Lost to Ron Capps
Arizona Nationals: Qual 8; Lost to Alexis DeJoria
Gatornationals: Qual 11; Lost to Blake Alexander
Las Vegas1: Qual 9; Beat Tim Wilkerson and Jason Rupert; Lost to Ron Capps and Matt Hagan
Houston: Qual 13; Beat Bob Tasca III, Jim Campbell; Lost to Matt Hagan
Charlotte1: Qual 6; Beat Dale Creasy Jr, Chad Green; Lost to Ron Capps, Mike McIntire
Richmond: Qual 5; Lost to John Force
Epping: Qual 10; Beat Blake Alexander, Cruz Pedregon; Lost to Matt Hagan
Kalitta Motorsports PR
