J.R. Todd and the DHL Toyota GR Supra were racing to support several initiatives this weekend at the Texas NHRA Fall Nationals at Texas Motorplex. The 2018 Funny Car world champion swapped out his traditional yellow and red DHL Supra Funny Car for a remarkable pink DHL nitro Funny Car for the final three races of the NHRA playoffs. The team will be casting attention to support breast cancer research and men’s health in October and November. Additionally, all three Kalitta Motorsports teams are racing for Feeding America and through three races have raised a cumulative 180,000 meals in conjunction with DHL and Kalitta Air.
“It is cool to be supporting Feeding America and also raising awareness for breast cancer research and men’s health with our sponsor DHL,” said Todd, during a sponsor meet and greet in the Kalitta Motorsports hospitality area. “We want to win on the track and also win by supporting important causes. We spent some time with kids from A Kid Again on Saturday and that was cool too. You get a whole new perspective when you meet kids who are battling some serious medical conditions.”
On the track Todd was focused on his pursuit of a second NHRA Funny Car championship trying to make the most of the four qualifying runs. His quickest run of 3.908 seconds landed him in the top half of the field as the No. 7 qualifier. The weather conditions for the runs Todd and his DHL Toyota GR Supra changed dramatically from Saturday to Sunday as a cool front and rain showers moved over Texas Motorplex.
In the first round Todd was racing veteran Paul Lee in front of an impressive Texas Motorplex crowd. Todd launched hard and was flying down the left lane as his Funny Car began pushing to towards the guardwall. Todd was working feverishly to steer his 11,000 horsepower nitro Funny Car back towards the groove but the dramatic acceleration was too much and the pink DHL Funny Car made a strong move to the right costing Todd the chance to advance to the quarterfinals.
“These Funny Cars can be a handful and that run was a prime example,” said Todd. “I was doing everything I could to try and keep it in the groove. We have another race to get win lights for Feeding America and in two weeks at Las Vegas I am going to be looking to get some win lights.”
The Las Vegas NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in two weeks will be Todd’s next chance to move up in the point standings.
Statistics:
Qualified: No. 7 (3.908 sec, 327.01 mph)
Bonus points: 0
Race Details:
First Round
Qual Driver RT ET MPH
7 J.R. Todd .097 4.092 329.55
10 Paul Lee .077 3.980 296.36 (W)
Kalitta Motorsports PR
