J.R. Todd, DHL GR Supra Funny Car​


2025 NHRA Brainerd Nationals Recap: Qualified No. 5; defeated Paul Lee, Ron Capps and Jack Beckman; lost to Austin Prock.

J.R. Todd Career Stats: 349 events, 23 wins, 28 runners-up, 383 round wins, 17 No. 1 qualifiers.

Current Points Position: 3

Pre-Race Notes:

  • J.R. Todd enters the NHRA Brainerd Nationals in third place in the NHRA Funny Car point standings. He trails points leader Ron Capps by 42 points, second-place Jack Beckman by five points and leads fourth-place Jordan Vandergriff by 12 points. The top-five drivers are separated by just 64 points with two races remaining in the regular season.
  • Todd joined his teammate, Doug Kalitta, in the winners’ circle July 26 in Seattle. It was the second double win in Kalitta Motorsports history and the first since March 2024 at Gainesville, Fla. The win was Todd’s first of the season and the 23rd of his career
  • Todd was the runner-up at last year’s NHRA Brainerd Nationals, but the DHL driver enters this weekend’s race in search of his first Brainerd win.
  • Todd advanced to at least the semifinals six times this season. He has one win, one runner-up finish and four semifinal showings in addition to three No. 1 qualifiers this season.
  • Todd is the 2018 NHRA Funny Car Champion and has 23 race wins in his career.

Pre-Race Quotes:

“Winning in Seattle was definitely a weight off our shoulders. I feel like we let a couple slip through the cracks earlier in the season. We had some clutch disc issues that I think we’ve sorted out. I was so happy for my guys because they’d been busting their butts all season. To be able to double up with Dougy (Top Fuel Teammate Doug Kalitta) was huge – we’d been trying to do that for so long, and it was awesome. It’s great that we got to make Connie (Team Owner Connie Kalitta) proud – I wish he’d been there because it’s so hard to win these things, and then to double up. We’d only done it once with Shawn (Top Fuel Teammate Shawn Langdon) in Gainesville a couple years ago, and now to do it with Doug, I can’t thank Connie, Dougie and everybody that lets me drive Scott’s car (Scott Kalitta’s car). We got it back in the winners’ circle where it belongs, and hopefully, we can do it a lot more this season.

“We’ve had a really good car all year long; we just stumbled a little there in the middle of the season. Now I think we’re getting back to where we need to be. You can’t take anybody lightly in Funny Car. Dickie and Todd (Crew Chiefs Dickie Venables and Todd Smith) do a really good job of racing smart – not throwing down every run; they race the conditions and the track.

“You never know if the next win is ever gonna come. I thought for sure, earlier in the season and even in pre-season testing, I was like, ‘we’ve got a hot rod; we’re gonna win some races.’ A lot of things weren’t going our way, but I knew we had the right personnel, parts and pieces and everything behind us to go out there and win. Our dragsters had been making it look easy all season long. I was like, ‘man, what are we not doing right?’ It’s not easy by any means.

“I’ve thought all season long that we’re a championship contender. I know what we have in the pit area and at the race shop. You’re only as good as your last race so we’ll go to Brainerd and try to win there and maybe double up again. Now’s the time to get rolling with Brainerd, points and a half at Indy and the regular season championship. One of our dragsters is most likely gonna win that so if we could both win that, it would be huge. In the last six races, like I keep saying, that’s when ‘you gotta let it eat.’

“We always go to Brainerd a little early and hang out on the lake. It’s kind of like a little mini vacation before and during the race so it’s a nice little getaway from the racetrack. I definitely look forward to that, and I look forward to seeing the fans at the racetrack.

I like the Brainerd fans; they’re probably some of, if not the, rowdiest fans on the tour. They’re really passionate about us coming there, and it’s a way cool environment – you know they’ll be energetic.”

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: 7-8:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 21 on FS1
  • Qualifying Show 2: 10:30-Midnight Saturday, Aug. 22 on FS1
  • Finals: 6:30-9:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 23 on FS1



The post J.R. Todd Confident, Set To Resume Regular Season Title Chase first appeared on Team Kalitta Motorsports.

Continue reading...