J.R. Todd, DHL GR Supra Funny Car
2025 NHRA Arizona Nationals Recap: Qualified No. 9; beat Dan Wilkerson; lost to Bob Tasca.
J.R. Todd Career Stats: 338 events, 22 wins, 27 runners-up, 366 round wins, 14 No. 1 qualifiers.
Current Points Position: 3
Pre-Race Notes:
Pre-Race Quotes:
“It’s nice knowing we have a car that can go out there and respond to the changes Dickie and Todd (Crew Chiefs Dickie Venables and Todd Smith) are making. The DHL GR Supra is putting up good numbers, and it’s definitely competitive. That gives me confidence as a driver, and I think the rest of the team definitely has some pep in their step after Gainesville.
“I’m not out there to lose. When you get a taste of winning and competing for a championship, and you know you have a car capable of that, when the results don’t come, I would say that sometimes I can get into a bad mood. It’s nice to have a car that’s competitive and capable of turning on win lights every week. That changes the mentality for everybody on the team.
“One of the benefits of going to the later rounds is being in the Mission Foods Challenge on Saturday, but we still have to approach it as qualifying even though we’re racing. What I do on Saturday and Sunday is definitely not the same. We’re racing, but at the end of the day, we’re still qualifying and trying to get data towards the big picture on Sunday. It’s nice to be involved in those bonus races to earn as much as we can in bonus points and money.
“We’ve all seen the forecasts for record high temperatures this weekend. The qualifying runs will be pretty similar to first and second rounds on Sunday so hopefully, we can get runs under our belt in qualifying to build on our notebook for Sunday. Once the later rounds come around on Sunday, if we’re fortunate enough to get there, I’d say it’ll be tricky with some super high track temps, but at the end of the day, it’s the same for all of us so we have to figure it out and make it happen.”
Todd Photo Courtesy: Kalitta Motorsports
For J.R. Todd’s 2026 race-by-race results, please click here.
The post J.R. Todd Set to Continue Solid Season Start first appeared on Team Kalitta Motorsports.
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2025 NHRA Arizona Nationals Recap: Qualified No. 9; beat Dan Wilkerson; lost to Bob Tasca.
J.R. Todd Career Stats: 338 events, 22 wins, 27 runners-up, 366 round wins, 14 No. 1 qualifiers.
Current Points Position: 3
Pre-Race Notes:
- J.R. Todd enjoyed a strong season debut two weeks ago in Gainesville, Fla. He was No. 2 qualifier and advanced to the semifinals. Following strong pre-season testing, the team was optimistic entering the Gatornationals and backed it up. He enters the season’s second race in third place in the point standings.
- When Todd advanced to the semifinals two weeks ago in Gainesville, he earned a spot in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge this weekend. During Saturday’s qualifying sessions, the drivers who reached the semifinals in Gainesville will re-run the semifinals and final earning additional purse and championship bonus points.
- Todd has never won in Phoenix, but he has one final-round appearance.
- Todd is the 2018 NHRA Funny Car Champion and owns 22 race wins in his career.
Pre-Race Quotes:
“It’s nice knowing we have a car that can go out there and respond to the changes Dickie and Todd (Crew Chiefs Dickie Venables and Todd Smith) are making. The DHL GR Supra is putting up good numbers, and it’s definitely competitive. That gives me confidence as a driver, and I think the rest of the team definitely has some pep in their step after Gainesville.
“I’m not out there to lose. When you get a taste of winning and competing for a championship, and you know you have a car capable of that, when the results don’t come, I would say that sometimes I can get into a bad mood. It’s nice to have a car that’s competitive and capable of turning on win lights every week. That changes the mentality for everybody on the team.
“One of the benefits of going to the later rounds is being in the Mission Foods Challenge on Saturday, but we still have to approach it as qualifying even though we’re racing. What I do on Saturday and Sunday is definitely not the same. We’re racing, but at the end of the day, we’re still qualifying and trying to get data towards the big picture on Sunday. It’s nice to be involved in those bonus races to earn as much as we can in bonus points and money.
“We’ve all seen the forecasts for record high temperatures this weekend. The qualifying runs will be pretty similar to first and second rounds on Sunday so hopefully, we can get runs under our belt in qualifying to build on our notebook for Sunday. Once the later rounds come around on Sunday, if we’re fortunate enough to get there, I’d say it’ll be tricky with some super high track temps, but at the end of the day, it’s the same for all of us so we have to figure it out and make it happen.”
Todd Photo Courtesy: Kalitta Motorsports
For J.R. Todd’s 2026 race-by-race results, please click here.
The post J.R. Todd Set to Continue Solid Season Start first appeared on Team Kalitta Motorsports.
Continue reading...
