J.R. Todd, DHL GR Supra Funny Car
2025 Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals Recap: Qualified No. 12; lost to Matt Hagan.
J.R. Todd Career Stats: 346 events, 22 wins, 28 runners-up, 378 round wins, 16 No. 1 qualifiers.
Current Points Position: 3
Pre-Race Notes:
Pre-Race Quotes:
“I think our current points position is testament to Dickie, Todd (Crew Chiefs Dickie Venables and Todd Smith) and the yella fellas adapting to every place we go to, just being consistent. We show up to win every race, but for whatever reason, we have kind of stubbed our toe when it comes down to the semifinals or final round, but as long as we keep going to those later rounds, we’re going to be in the hunt. I feel like the win will come if we keep doing that. I’m happy with the way things are going, and Norwalk would be a great place to win. It’d be nice to check that one off the list.
“It is definitely hard to be patient. After the success we had winning the (2018) championship, you kind of think to yourself that we have a car that can go out there and win races and compete with all these guys. And then we kind of just fell on our face after that. We weren’t consistent. That’s when your patience really starts to wear thin. You get envious of guys like Matt Hagan and Dickie (Venables when working with Matt Hagan) always out there winning races and competing for championships – same with (Ron) Capps and the JFR (John Force Racing) cars.
“When we brought Dickie on last season, I felt like, ‘all right, here’s that opportunity,’ but like I said, for whatever reason, we’re just not there yet. I told myself then, ‘just trust the process and be patient.’ That’s where I am now, and I’m happy with the way things have been going. We want to win every race that we show up to, but we learn from every race. We stumbled in the semis at Epping and again at Bristol. We know what we did wrong and learned from it.
“I definitely could say, since I got into the Funny Car class, I feel like it’s the toughest category, and each year, it just gets harder and harder. From top to bottom, it’s stacked. For instance, look at Dave Richards now bringing in Aaron Brooks; they’re making competitive runs, consistency has come so if you draw somebody like that first round, it’s not an ideal matchup; none of them is, unless you have the bye run. From top-to-bottom, you can’t take anybody lightly. It keeps you on your toes every round, that’s for sure. The guys that were making it look easy in the past, winning all those races, it’s not happening like it was. The parity in the class is really good right now.
“Norwalk is another track where I grew up racing as a kid somewhat close to home, and it’s a home race for Kalitta Motorsports. The Bader family does a great job promoting races – they’re one of the best in the business. The fans always pack the grandstands, and at the end of the day, we’re there to put on a good show for them. It’s close to the race shop so it’s an opportunity for families and everybody who works in the CNC shop, the Fab shop and the front office who can’t get to many races during the year to come out and actually see what we do. It’s a big race for Kalitta Motorsports for sure.”
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 Likes Team Direction, is Poised For Victory first appeared on Team Kalitta Motorsports.
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2025 Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals Recap: Qualified No. 12; lost to Matt Hagan.
J.R. Todd Career Stats: 346 events, 22 wins, 28 runners-up, 378 round wins, 16 No. 1 qualifiers.
Current Points Position: 3
Pre-Race Notes:
- J.R. Todd enters the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in third place in the NHRA Funny Car point standings. He trails second place Matt Hagan by 33 points and leads fourth-place Jordan Vandergriff by 15 points.
- Todd advanced to at least the semifinals at five of the nine races this season. He has one runner-up finish and four semifinal showings.
- Todd has one runner-up finish at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park but has never won at the suburban Cleveland racetrack.
- Todd is the 2018 NHRA Funny Car Champion and has 22 race wins in his career.
Pre-Race Quotes:
“I think our current points position is testament to Dickie, Todd (Crew Chiefs Dickie Venables and Todd Smith) and the yella fellas adapting to every place we go to, just being consistent. We show up to win every race, but for whatever reason, we have kind of stubbed our toe when it comes down to the semifinals or final round, but as long as we keep going to those later rounds, we’re going to be in the hunt. I feel like the win will come if we keep doing that. I’m happy with the way things are going, and Norwalk would be a great place to win. It’d be nice to check that one off the list.
“It is definitely hard to be patient. After the success we had winning the (2018) championship, you kind of think to yourself that we have a car that can go out there and win races and compete with all these guys. And then we kind of just fell on our face after that. We weren’t consistent. That’s when your patience really starts to wear thin. You get envious of guys like Matt Hagan and Dickie (Venables when working with Matt Hagan) always out there winning races and competing for championships – same with (Ron) Capps and the JFR (John Force Racing) cars.
“When we brought Dickie on last season, I felt like, ‘all right, here’s that opportunity,’ but like I said, for whatever reason, we’re just not there yet. I told myself then, ‘just trust the process and be patient.’ That’s where I am now, and I’m happy with the way things have been going. We want to win every race that we show up to, but we learn from every race. We stumbled in the semis at Epping and again at Bristol. We know what we did wrong and learned from it.
“I definitely could say, since I got into the Funny Car class, I feel like it’s the toughest category, and each year, it just gets harder and harder. From top to bottom, it’s stacked. For instance, look at Dave Richards now bringing in Aaron Brooks; they’re making competitive runs, consistency has come so if you draw somebody like that first round, it’s not an ideal matchup; none of them is, unless you have the bye run. From top-to-bottom, you can’t take anybody lightly. It keeps you on your toes every round, that’s for sure. The guys that were making it look easy in the past, winning all those races, it’s not happening like it was. The parity in the class is really good right now.
“Norwalk is another track where I grew up racing as a kid somewhat close to home, and it’s a home race for Kalitta Motorsports. The Bader family does a great job promoting races – they’re one of the best in the business. The fans always pack the grandstands, and at the end of the day, we’re there to put on a good show for them. It’s close to the race shop so it’s an opportunity for families and everybody who works in the CNC shop, the Fab shop and the front office who can’t get to many races during the year to come out and actually see what we do. It’s a big race for Kalitta Motorsports for sure.”
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: Noon-2 p.m. Sunday, June 28 on FS1
- Finals: 5:30-9 p.m. Sunday, June 28 on FOX
The post J.R. Todd Likes Team Direction, is Poised For Victory first appeared on Team Kalitta Motorsports.
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