J.R. Todd, DHL GR Supra Funny Car
2025 NHRA Northwest Nationals Recap: Qualified No. 3; defeated Cruz Pedregon, lost to Alexis DeJoria.
J.R. Todd Career Stats: 348 events, 22 wins, 28 runners-up, 379 round wins, 16 No. 1 qualifiers.
Current Points Position: 5
Pre-Race Notes:
Pre-Race Quotes:
“The competition in the Funny Car class is intense. When you have a difficult matchup in the first round, if you can get by that, you have another hard draw the next round. Either way, if you can get some of the points leaders out early, that’s the best way to make up some ground on them. We’ve been a little behind the last few races; we’re having the same issues as a lot of teams out here have. It’s the bell housing, and we’re trying to sort it out before the playoffs start. We’re making good runs down the track, but we’re a tick behind the front runners.
“This weekend would be a great time to get the ball rolling again; in 2018 when we went onto win the championship, it got rolling about now, and we went on to win Indy. Now’s the time – when you get to the halfway point of the season, you need to get your ducks in a row, put your best foot forward and start going to those later rounds and racking up points. With the regular season championship decided at Indy, we need to get back to doing that. Big picture, we want to stay in the top 5 going into the Countdown to the Championship. The goal is to get the ball rolling this weekend and get back to reaching the later rounds and not shoot ourselves in the foot.
“We’ve been battling some clutch disc issues the last few races so we’ve kind of stumbled from the beginning of the year when we were really consistent going to the later rounds and led the points for a while. Guys are good on the starting line, and guys are throwing down every time they hit the track starting with Q1 (the first qualifying session) on Friday. It’s a crucial run to set you up for the (Friday) night run. If you don’t get down the track Q1, you put yourself into conservative mode for Q2. I say it every year – Funny Car gets more and more competitive; there are at least 10 or 12 guys that could win every race we show up to so it’s not getting any easier by any means.”
Todd Photo Courtesy: Kalitta Motorsports
For J.R. Todd’s 2026 race-by-race results, please click here.
TV Schedule (All times eastern):
The post J.R. Todd Chasing Return to Later Rounds first appeared on Team Kalitta Motorsports.
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2025 NHRA Northwest Nationals Recap: Qualified No. 3; defeated Cruz Pedregon, lost to Alexis DeJoria.
J.R. Todd Career Stats: 348 events, 22 wins, 28 runners-up, 379 round wins, 16 No. 1 qualifiers.
Current Points Position: 5
Pre-Race Notes:
- J.R. Todd enters the Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals in fifth place in the NHRA Funny Car point standings. He trails fourth place Matt Hagan by 23 points and leads sixth-place Chad Green by 54 points with three races remaining in the regular season.
- Todd has one win in four final round appearances along with one No. 1 qualifier at Pacific Raceways.
- Todd advanced to at least the semifinals five times this season. He has one runner-up finish and four semifinal showings in addition to two No. 1 qualifiers this season.
- Todd is the 2018 NHRA Funny Car Champion and has 22 race wins in his career.
Pre-Race Quotes:
“The competition in the Funny Car class is intense. When you have a difficult matchup in the first round, if you can get by that, you have another hard draw the next round. Either way, if you can get some of the points leaders out early, that’s the best way to make up some ground on them. We’ve been a little behind the last few races; we’re having the same issues as a lot of teams out here have. It’s the bell housing, and we’re trying to sort it out before the playoffs start. We’re making good runs down the track, but we’re a tick behind the front runners.
“This weekend would be a great time to get the ball rolling again; in 2018 when we went onto win the championship, it got rolling about now, and we went on to win Indy. Now’s the time – when you get to the halfway point of the season, you need to get your ducks in a row, put your best foot forward and start going to those later rounds and racking up points. With the regular season championship decided at Indy, we need to get back to doing that. Big picture, we want to stay in the top 5 going into the Countdown to the Championship. The goal is to get the ball rolling this weekend and get back to reaching the later rounds and not shoot ourselves in the foot.
“We’ve been battling some clutch disc issues the last few races so we’ve kind of stumbled from the beginning of the year when we were really consistent going to the later rounds and led the points for a while. Guys are good on the starting line, and guys are throwing down every time they hit the track starting with Q1 (the first qualifying session) on Friday. It’s a crucial run to set you up for the (Friday) night run. If you don’t get down the track Q1, you put yourself into conservative mode for Q2. I say it every year – Funny Car gets more and more competitive; there are at least 10 or 12 guys that could win every race we show up to so it’s not getting any easier by any means.”
Todd Photo Courtesy: Kalitta Motorsports
For J.R. Todd’s 2026 race-by-race results, please click here.
TV Schedule (All times eastern):
- Qualifying Show 1: 10-11:30 Friday, July 24 on FS1
- Qualifying Show 2: 2:30-4 p.m. Sunday, July 26 on FS1
- Finals: 4-7 p.m. Sunday, July 26 on FOX
The post J.R. Todd Chasing Return to Later Rounds first appeared on Team Kalitta Motorsports.
Continue reading...