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Post-Race Report
Event 12: NHRA Brainerd Nationals
Brainerd International Raceway
Brainerd, MN
August 22, 2021
Semifinal Finish at Brainerd Nationals Has J.R. Todd Cruising Heading to Indy
In the first round Todd was giving up lane choice to Robert Hight but it did not matter to Todd and his DHL Toyota Funny Car team. He took a starting line advantage and never trailed in the race posting a winning time of 3.933 seconds at 325.85 mph. It was a big improvement from his best qualifying time of 3.970 seconds and showed how well crew chief Todd Smith was handling the tune-up.
“That was a big match-up,” said Todd. “Those are guys we are going to be battling with for the championship. Right now, the top six Funny Cars are crazy close for the points lead. Qualifying didn’t work out for either one of us because that is not who you want to race first round. We had some luck on our side. They broke down track and we rebounded from Saturday to make a pretty good run.”
In one of the best races of the second round the DHL Toyota team and Todd combined to work their magic for another close win. Todd was masterful off starting line against No. 3 qualifier Tim Wilkerson grabbing a reaction time advantage of .067 to. 079 which proved to be the difference at the finish line. Todd’s race car hit the finish line stripe posting a 3.931 second elapsed time which was enough to get the win over a quicker time of 3.929 second by Wilkerson. It was a great team effort to advance to the semifinals.
Racing with the possibility of his third consecutive final round appearance on the line Todd squared off with Cruz Pedregon. It was a battle between the Gatornationals victor against the Norwalk Nationals winner. Todd once again had a strong reaction time and his DHL Toyota race car made another good run on a warming race surface posting a 3.955 second pass at 321.73 mph but it was not quite enough to get the win over a slightly quicker 3.933 second run in the opposite lane.
“Our car kind of hurt itself in the semis and fell off a little bit and I feel like I gave up a little bit on the starting line,” said Todd, following the semifinals. “We are definitely running well at the right time of the year. We just need to keep it rolling.”
In two weeks Todd will be racing for his third U.S. Nationals Funny Car title. He will also be looking to secure his final position in a very tight Funny Car field for the seven-race playoff run.
“Going into the Countdown you definitely want to be as close to the top as possible,” said Todd. “We are right in the thick of it. We could go into the Countdown leading the points. More than anything we want to go to Indy and win there. That starts here when we are testing on Monday to get this DHL Toyota ready for Indy and beyond.”
Statistics:
Qualified: No. 11 (3.970 sec., 321.73 mph)
Bonus points: 0
Race Details:
First Round
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH
J.R. Todd 11 .064 3.933 325.85 (W)
Robert Hight 6 .075 3.988 274.05
Second Round
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH
J.R. Todd 11 .067 3.931 326.87 (W)
Tim Wilkerson 3 .079 3.929 320.97
Semifinal Round
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH
J.R. Todd 11 .074 3.955 321.73
Cruz Pedregon 2 .058 3.933 322.73 (W)
Doug Kalitta and Mac Tools Wrapping Up Regular Season with Eyes on Countdown
Kalitta faced Millican in the second pair of dragsters to hit the track on Sunday morning. The 49-time national event winner got a starting line advantage with a superior reaction time, .061 to .076, and both 11,000 horsepower race cars were charging down the track. The Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster was on its best pass of the weekend, but it wasn’t enough to get to the finish line first. Kalitta’s elapsed time of 3.809 second at 321.88 mph was an improvement over his qualifying time but not enough to move on to the next round.
“We are battling to get round wins with this Mac Tools team,” said Kalitta. “We are going to test tomorrow and get some things figured out before Indy and the Countdown. There is one more race left in the regular season and then the playoffs start.”
A strong performance at the U.S. Nationals, a race Kalitta won in 2019, would move him up in the top ten going into the playoffs. The team is currently solidly in the top ten and will be looking to clinch their spot in two weeks in Indianapolis
Statistics:
Qualified: No. 9 (3.823 sec., 308.99 mph)
Bonus points: 0
Race Details:
First Round
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH
Doug Kalitta 9 .061 3.809 321.88
Clay Millican 4 .076 3.729 327.27 (W)
Shawn Langdon Exit Early from Brainerd Nationals
At the end of Saturday Langdon was solidly in the show as the No. 7 qualifier and would face Antron Brown for the second week in a row. Last week Langdon took the win on the way to his fourth semifinal finish of the season.
Langdon and his DHL Top Fuel dragster were half of the first pair of race cars to hit the track on Sunday morning with cool and quick track conditions on tap. The reigning U.S. Nationals champion was on his game cutting a nearly psychic reaction time of .028 but unfortunately due to an apparent malfunction his race car overpowered the track and completely lost traction. It was a jarring run for Langdon as the entire race car leapt forward almost lifting all four tires off the track simultaneously. There was no recovering the lost power and momentum as his opponent made a smooth run for the victory.
“I don’t know what happened, but it was definitely not what we wanted,” said Langdon. “I felt like we had a tune-up that could go rounds in these conditions. I am sure the DHL guys will look at the data and see what happened. We are in the middle of the top ten and we will be racing for the championship. We will put this race behind us and move on.”
With a week off before the U.S. Nationals Langdon will spend a day testing tomorrow at Brainerd International Raceway and then shift his focus to the biggest race of the season.
Statistics:
Qualified: No. 7 (3.774 sec., 298.01 mph)
Bonus points: 0
Race Details:
First Round
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH
Shawn Langdon 7 .028 12.384 71.89
Antron Brown 6 .066 3.749 326.08 (W)
Unofficial NHRA Camping World Championship Standings:
Top Fuel
| 1 | Steve Torrence | 1212 |
| 2 | Brittany Force | 829 |
| 3 | Antron Brown | 791 |
| 4 | Mike Salinas | 631 |
| 4 | Leah Pruett | 631 |
| 6 | Shawn Langdon | 620 |
| 7 | Clay Millican | 579 |
| 8 | Justin Ashley | 578 |
| 9 | Billy Torrence | 510 |
| 10 | Doug Kalitta | 503 |
Funny Car
| 1 | Matt Hagan | 865 |
| 2 | J.R. Todd | 850 |
| 2 | Bob Tasca III | 850 |
| 4 | John Force | 849 |
| 5 | Ron Capps | 840 |
| 6 | Robert Hight | 782 |
| 7 | Alexis DeJoria | 725 |
| 8 | Cruz Pedregon | 712 |
| 9 | Tim Wilkerson | 631 |
| 10 | Blake Alexander | 470 |
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