Funny Car Points Leader: J.R. Todd, DHL GR Supra Funny Car
Finals Broadcast Replay (eastern time): 5-8 p.m. Monday, May 4 on FS2
Qualifying: J.R. Todd was the No. 1 qualifier at the NHRA Southern Nationals. It was his second No. 1 qualifier in the last three races and the 16th of his career. Todd posted the quickest run in the first two qualifying sessions and was second quickest in the third. His best attempt came in the first session Friday afternoon when he made a 3.887-second pass at 339.28 mph making the fastest Funny Car run of the season, the fourth fastest Funny Car run all time and the fastest of his career.
Eliminations: Todd defeated Daniel Wilkerson, had a second-round bye and defeated Alexis DeJoria in a tire-smoking semifinal to advance to the 54th final round of his career against Jordan Vandergriff. In the final, Todd was off the starting line first, but the DHL GR Supra smoked the tires at about half track giving Vandergriff the win.
When Todd advanced to the semifinals, he earned a spot in the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge at the next race. During Saturday’s qualifying sessions, the drivers who reached the second round at the last race will re-run semifinals and final earning additional purse and championship bonus points.
With Shawn Langdon and Doug Kalitta making the Top Fuel final, the NHRA Southern Nationals was the first race since 2014 that three Kalitta Motorsports cars raced in the final round. In 2014, Kalitta and Todd raced in the Top Fuel final while Alexis Dejoria raced for team Kalitta in the Funny Car final.
Unofficial Point Standings: Todd leaves South Georgia in first place in in the NHRA Funny Car point standings. He leads second-place Ron Capps by two points.
Todd on South Georgia: “We knew the track was gonna be different than what we’d seen all weekend once the sun got on it. It was definitely tricky, but we made good runs in the first round and second round. Then in the semifinals, something happened with the clutch; we’re not real sure what yet, but it caused it to blow the tires off like that at the starting line. We were fortunate enough to get the win. In the final, we were just trying too hard out past halftrack trying to run really hard there and spun the tires. I’m definitely happy with the progress our DHL team is making. I’ll take going to the later rounds every weekend; the consistency is definitely coming around and we’re racking up points. That’s the name of the game right now.”
J.R. Todd Photo Courtesy: NHRA
Next Race: Team Kalitta will be back in action May 15-17, 2026 at the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals in Joliet, Ill. For additional information, please visit www.nhra.com. For additional information on Kalitta Motorsports, please visit www.teamkalitta.com.
The post J.R. Todd Reaches Final Round, Takes Points Lead first appeared on Team Kalitta Motorsports.
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Finals Broadcast Replay (eastern time): 5-8 p.m. Monday, May 4 on FS2
Qualifying: J.R. Todd was the No. 1 qualifier at the NHRA Southern Nationals. It was his second No. 1 qualifier in the last three races and the 16th of his career. Todd posted the quickest run in the first two qualifying sessions and was second quickest in the third. His best attempt came in the first session Friday afternoon when he made a 3.887-second pass at 339.28 mph making the fastest Funny Car run of the season, the fourth fastest Funny Car run all time and the fastest of his career.
Eliminations: Todd defeated Daniel Wilkerson, had a second-round bye and defeated Alexis DeJoria in a tire-smoking semifinal to advance to the 54th final round of his career against Jordan Vandergriff. In the final, Todd was off the starting line first, but the DHL GR Supra smoked the tires at about half track giving Vandergriff the win.
When Todd advanced to the semifinals, he earned a spot in the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge at the next race. During Saturday’s qualifying sessions, the drivers who reached the second round at the last race will re-run semifinals and final earning additional purse and championship bonus points.
With Shawn Langdon and Doug Kalitta making the Top Fuel final, the NHRA Southern Nationals was the first race since 2014 that three Kalitta Motorsports cars raced in the final round. In 2014, Kalitta and Todd raced in the Top Fuel final while Alexis Dejoria raced for team Kalitta in the Funny Car final.
Unofficial Point Standings: Todd leaves South Georgia in first place in in the NHRA Funny Car point standings. He leads second-place Ron Capps by two points.
Todd on South Georgia: “We knew the track was gonna be different than what we’d seen all weekend once the sun got on it. It was definitely tricky, but we made good runs in the first round and second round. Then in the semifinals, something happened with the clutch; we’re not real sure what yet, but it caused it to blow the tires off like that at the starting line. We were fortunate enough to get the win. In the final, we were just trying too hard out past halftrack trying to run really hard there and spun the tires. I’m definitely happy with the progress our DHL team is making. I’ll take going to the later rounds every weekend; the consistency is definitely coming around and we’re racking up points. That’s the name of the game right now.”
J.R. Todd Photo Courtesy: NHRA
Next Race: Team Kalitta will be back in action May 15-17, 2026 at the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals in Joliet, Ill. For additional information, please visit www.nhra.com. For additional information on Kalitta Motorsports, please visit www.teamkalitta.com.
The post J.R. Todd Reaches Final Round, Takes Points Lead first appeared on Team Kalitta Motorsports.
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