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POMONA, Calif. -- J.R. Todd: From Unknown in February to Contender for Finals Win; Newcomer Steve Torrence Pleased with Top Fuel Driving Progress
When J.R. TODD qualified third with a startling 4.508-second run at the season-opening Winternationals, few knew it was a harbinger of things to come for the rookie Top Fuel driver from Lawrenceburg, Ind.
Not even Todd could fathom the success that awaited.
"We did a big 180 (degree turn) from the beginning of the year," said Todd, 24, who was hand-picked by team owner Dexter Tuttle. "We surprised some people with the 4.50 run. We were No. 1 after the second day of qualifying and ended up No. 3, but we still didn't have it all together as a team right then. Later in the year we started working well as a team and things started to come together. We started to open some eyes and win some rounds - and, eventually, some races."
Make that three victories (Denver, Sonoma, Calif., and Reading, Pa.) and one runner-up (Las Vegas, Oct. 29) in a second-half surge that brought the SKULL Shine/Torco Racing Fuels team from off the charts to an improbable eighth place in NHRA POWERade Series standings with one race remaining. And it is one reason Todd numbers among the favorites in the season- ending Auto Club Nationals at Pomona Raceway, Nov. 9-12, and the frontrunner for the coveted rookie of the year award.
"I think we are definitely in the hunt with the other top cars at Pomona," says Todd, "but we can't run in the mid-4.40s (seconds) like some of them can. I still think we have a good shot at winning. I feel confident because of the way the car has run in the last few races. It has been very consistent and we've been making laps."
Todd also praised crew chief Jimmy Walsh for his tuning expertise.
"Jimmy fine-tunes the car on every run," he said. "On race day he just goes out and races the track and takes what it gives us and doesn't worry about who is in the lane next to us."
Things weren't always that way. Tuttle had planned to run 10 or 12 races but extended it to the remainder of the season when Evan Knoll arrived with the SKULL Shine sponsorship after the team had missed five of the first seven races.
"Evan stepping up was definitely the big turning point for us this year because it allowed us to go to all the remaining races," added Todd. "That's when the car started running consistently. We got our first round win a few races later and then we went to the semifinals at St. Louis."
Todd, Walsh and team advance all the way to the winner's circle at two of the next three races. Todd's triumph at Denver made him the first African American to win in NHRA's Top Fuel category. The team went to the semis the next week at Seattle and ended an amazing Western Swing with another win. Todd defeated defending series champion Tony Schumacher in both final rounds.
A fourth win in this already incredible season would simply provide the perfect ending for Todd. "There's a lot of history at the Pomona track," he said. "Next to winning at Indianapolis (U.S. Nationals), winning at Pomona would be right at the top of my list. It's the last race of the year and it's for bragging rights all winter, until the first race of the 2007 season.
"No one is taking us lightly now because they know what we are capable of. We aren't going to change the way we do things. We'll just take them as they come."
Todd's perfect Finals agenda would read: qualify well, get four win lights and winner's circle photos on Sunday.
STEVE TORRENCE, meanwhile, will be making his third Top Fuel appearance of the season in the second SKULL Shine/Torco Racing Fuels dragster.
"We are very pleased with the way things have gone," said Torrence, of Kilgore, Texas. "We couldn't have asked for better results. We qualified for both races and won our first round in the second race."
Although this is his first Top Fuel race at Pomona, Torrence has driven an A/Fuel dragster at the track. "The sand trap (at the end of the runoff area) comes up much quicker in the Top Fuel car. This is no place to have parachute problems like we did at Richmond (Va., in his debut) and Las Vegas."
A bolt holding the 'chutes in place broke on Torrence's first qualifying effort at Virginia and the 'chutes didn't come out on one run at Las Vegas, but he was able to get the car slowed down without mishap on each occasion.
"I'm pleased to have had the benefit of seat time in the last three races of the year," commented Torrence. "That is what it takes to drive a Top Fuel dragster - getting acclimated in the car and familiar with how it works."
Torrence, the 2005 Lucas Oil Sportsman Series Top Alcohol Dragster champion, drove the A-Fueler to a runner-up finish at the Finals a year ago. He had to abort his run in February's Winternationals eliminations when the dragster' s wing blew off early in a run.
Torrence was competing in Super Comp when chosen to replace the late Shelly Howard early in 2005 and compiled an impressive record of four NHRA national event victories and seven divisional wins in a year and a half.
The Finals begins with qualifying at 3 p.m. Thursday and Friday and noon and 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. Sunday's eliminations get underway at 11 a.m.
Todd "In Hunt" for Finals Win
Torrence Continues Learning Process
POMONA, Calif. -- J.R. Todd: From Unknown in February to Contender for Finals Win; Newcomer Steve Torrence Pleased with Top Fuel Driving Progress
When J.R. TODD qualified third with a startling 4.508-second run at the season-opening Winternationals, few knew it was a harbinger of things to come for the rookie Top Fuel driver from Lawrenceburg, Ind.
Not even Todd could fathom the success that awaited.
"We did a big 180 (degree turn) from the beginning of the year," said Todd, 24, who was hand-picked by team owner Dexter Tuttle. "We surprised some people with the 4.50 run. We were No. 1 after the second day of qualifying and ended up No. 3, but we still didn't have it all together as a team right then. Later in the year we started working well as a team and things started to come together. We started to open some eyes and win some rounds - and, eventually, some races."
Make that three victories (Denver, Sonoma, Calif., and Reading, Pa.) and one runner-up (Las Vegas, Oct. 29) in a second-half surge that brought the SKULL Shine/Torco Racing Fuels team from off the charts to an improbable eighth place in NHRA POWERade Series standings with one race remaining. And it is one reason Todd numbers among the favorites in the season- ending Auto Club Nationals at Pomona Raceway, Nov. 9-12, and the frontrunner for the coveted rookie of the year award.
"I think we are definitely in the hunt with the other top cars at Pomona," says Todd, "but we can't run in the mid-4.40s (seconds) like some of them can. I still think we have a good shot at winning. I feel confident because of the way the car has run in the last few races. It has been very consistent and we've been making laps."
Todd also praised crew chief Jimmy Walsh for his tuning expertise.
"Jimmy fine-tunes the car on every run," he said. "On race day he just goes out and races the track and takes what it gives us and doesn't worry about who is in the lane next to us."
Things weren't always that way. Tuttle had planned to run 10 or 12 races but extended it to the remainder of the season when Evan Knoll arrived with the SKULL Shine sponsorship after the team had missed five of the first seven races.
"Evan stepping up was definitely the big turning point for us this year because it allowed us to go to all the remaining races," added Todd. "That's when the car started running consistently. We got our first round win a few races later and then we went to the semifinals at St. Louis."
Todd, Walsh and team advance all the way to the winner's circle at two of the next three races. Todd's triumph at Denver made him the first African American to win in NHRA's Top Fuel category. The team went to the semis the next week at Seattle and ended an amazing Western Swing with another win. Todd defeated defending series champion Tony Schumacher in both final rounds.
A fourth win in this already incredible season would simply provide the perfect ending for Todd. "There's a lot of history at the Pomona track," he said. "Next to winning at Indianapolis (U.S. Nationals), winning at Pomona would be right at the top of my list. It's the last race of the year and it's for bragging rights all winter, until the first race of the 2007 season.
"No one is taking us lightly now because they know what we are capable of. We aren't going to change the way we do things. We'll just take them as they come."
Todd's perfect Finals agenda would read: qualify well, get four win lights and winner's circle photos on Sunday.
STEVE TORRENCE, meanwhile, will be making his third Top Fuel appearance of the season in the second SKULL Shine/Torco Racing Fuels dragster.
"We are very pleased with the way things have gone," said Torrence, of Kilgore, Texas. "We couldn't have asked for better results. We qualified for both races and won our first round in the second race."
Although this is his first Top Fuel race at Pomona, Torrence has driven an A/Fuel dragster at the track. "The sand trap (at the end of the runoff area) comes up much quicker in the Top Fuel car. This is no place to have parachute problems like we did at Richmond (Va., in his debut) and Las Vegas."
A bolt holding the 'chutes in place broke on Torrence's first qualifying effort at Virginia and the 'chutes didn't come out on one run at Las Vegas, but he was able to get the car slowed down without mishap on each occasion.
"I'm pleased to have had the benefit of seat time in the last three races of the year," commented Torrence. "That is what it takes to drive a Top Fuel dragster - getting acclimated in the car and familiar with how it works."
Torrence, the 2005 Lucas Oil Sportsman Series Top Alcohol Dragster champion, drove the A-Fueler to a runner-up finish at the Finals a year ago. He had to abort his run in February's Winternationals eliminations when the dragster' s wing blew off early in a run.
Torrence was competing in Super Comp when chosen to replace the late Shelly Howard early in 2005 and compiled an impressive record of four NHRA national event victories and seven divisional wins in a year and a half.
The Finals begins with qualifying at 3 p.m. Thursday and Friday and noon and 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. Sunday's eliminations get underway at 11 a.m.
