Gatornationals Title Eludes J.R. Todd and DHL Camry

Gainesville, FL – The DHL Toyota Funny Car team and driver J.R. Todd were looking to race to their third consecutive final round of the 2020 season today at 51st annual NHRA Gatornationals. Their focus on was getting the first win of the season at one of the most historic venues on the NHRA schedule. The postponed Gatornationals gave all the teams a news experience racing in Florida in the fall versus spring. Warm temperatures and high humidity made conditions tough for all the teams but Todd and the DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car team persevered through a long day of qualifying yesterday.

The team qualified in the top half going into race day as the No. 7 qualifier with lane choice over fellow championship contender Tommy Johnson Jr. The DHL Toyota Camry took off the starting line beside Johnson and both Funny Cars were side by side all the way down the track. Todd made his quickest run of the weekend a 4.006 seconds, 321.58 mph pass which was almost enough to advance to the quarterfinals unfortunately Johnson also stepped up and took the win.

“We are not out of this championship yet,” said Todd. “We needed that round win but it was a good race. This DHL Toyota Camry was right there at the finish line. We picked it up from qualifying but we came up a little short. I have a lot of confidence going to St. Louis. We qualified in the top half this weekend and things just didn’t go our way. We have a lot of support from TRD and Mobil 1 which definitely helps along with the guys from WIX Filters and NGK Spark Plugs. This is a great team and we have four more races to finish out the season. Our goal is to win every one of those races. This Toyota team has gotten on a roll before and we can do it again.”

Todd and the DHL Toyota Funny Car team will head to St. Louis looking to get one more win light at the track where he raced to the final last year. With four races left in the season Todd and the DHL Funny Car are not out of the championship discussion by a long shot.

Quotable:
J.R. Todd on racing in St. Louis: “We almost got the win last year when we were racing Shawn (Langdon). That was a great race to face him in the final. It would be cool to get our DHL cars in the final in Funny Car and Top Fuel. This team isn’t quitting and we are focused on getting wins over these last four races starting next weekend.”

Statistics:
Qualified: No. 7 (4.107 sec., 308.64 mph)
Bonus points:

Race Details:

First Round
Driver                          Qual    R/T      ET        MPH
J.R. Todd                     7          .060     4.006   321.58
Tommy Johnson Jr.     10        .051     3.962   320.66 (W)