J.R. Todd and DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car Ready for More Countdown Success

Charlotte, NC – After the first race of the 2021 NHRA Countdown J.R. Todd and the DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car team are right in the middle of the championship battle. A semifinal finish at the NHRA Reading Nationals has Todd sitting two rounds out of first place and the 2018 Funny Car champion is in a great position to keep the pressure on the rest of the class. Last weekend the DHL Toyota Funny Car picked up two critical round wins from the No. 7 qualified position defeating Countdown contenders Alexis DeJoria and Cruz Pedregon before bowing out to eventual race winner Tommy Johnson, Jr., in the semifinals.

“We had decent weekend in Reading, but we would have liked to have gotten a win at the first Countdown race,” said Todd. “We made a good run in the final qualifying session and that set us up for race day. We are working on making solid runs right off the trailer and then building on that over the weekend. (Crew chiefs) Todd Smith and Jon Oberhofer are giving me a good race car and we just need to keep working together for those race and round wins.”

During his championship season Todd was the runner-up at the Carolina Nationals and that was the continuation of momentum that began at the U.S. Nationals. This season Todd has been building confidence since back-to-back runner up finishes at the Winternationals and Topeka Nationals as well as strong races in Brainerd and Indianapolis leading up to the start of the Countdown. With seven races in the Countdown Todd knows it is a marathon not a sprint for the title.

“I don’t think having an extra Countdown race is going to be that big of a deal,” said Todd, after his Reading finish. “You really need to get to at least the semifinals and win some of those Countdown races to have a chance for the championship whether there are six or seven races. We got off to a good start but now we need to keep up this pace. These Yella Fellas have been doing a great job all season and we have six more races to get the job done.”

In addition to the two recent runner-up finishes this summer Todd has also collected a win at the historic Gatornationals to start the season as well as a runner-up finish at the four-wide nationals at zMax Dragway earlier this season. The Charlotte track is one of the favorites for many of the teams on the Camping World Drag Racing Series and Todd enjoys his time racing in the heart of NASCAR country.

“When we were here in the spring we had some of the Toyota NASCAR guys come out to the track and we also had Kyle Busch with Rowdy Energy drink, one of our sponsors, warm up my race car which was cool,” said Todd. “It is cool to show off what we do out here at over 300 mph to those guys. We all kind of keep up with each other throughout the season.”

2019 DeWalt NHRA Carolina Nationals Highlights (event not contested in 2020): Qual. No. 12; Lost to John Force

Last Event Recap (2021 NHRA Reading Nationals): Qual. No. 7; Beat Alexis DeJoria, Cruz Pedregon; Lost to Tommy Johnson Jr.

Career Stats: 249 events, 241 starts, 274 round wins, 19 wins, 39 finals, 14 No. 1 qualifiers; in Funny Car: 97 events, 97 starts, 10 wins, 19 finals, 126 round wins, 5 No. 1 qualifiers

2021 Season:
Gatornationals: WINNER; Qual. No. 6; Beat Blake Alexander, Tim Wilkerson, Cruz Pedregon and Robert Hight
Las Vegas1: Qual. No. 9; Beat Cruz Pedregon and Jonnie Lindberg; Lost to Ron Capps and Bob Tasca III
Atlanta: Qual. No. 1; Beat Alexis DeJoria, bye; Lost to John Force
Charlotte1: RUNNER-UP; Qual. No.4; Beat Terry Haddock, Jim Campbell, Tim Wilkerson; Beat Mike McIntire, Terry Haddock; Lost to John Force, Beat Cruz Pedregon, Alexis DeJoria
Houston: Qual. No. 8; Beat John Force; Lost to Bob Tasca III
Epping: Qual. No. 9; Beat Cruz Pedregon, Lost to John Force
Norwalk: Qual. No. 9; Beat Mike McIntire, Lost to Ron Capps
Denver: Qual. No. 7; Lost to Bob Tasca III
Sonoma: Qual. No. 12; Beat John Force; Lost to Robert Hight
Pomona1: RUNNER-UP; Qual. No. 7; Beat Jeff Diehl, Robert Hight, Jim Campbell; Lost to Ron Capps
Topeka: RUNNER-UP; Qual. No. 1; Beat Bye, Ron Capps, Blake Alexander; Lost to John Force
Brainerd: Qual. No. 11; Beat Robert Hight, Tim Wilkerson; Lost to Cruz Pedregon
Indianapolis: Qual. No. 5; Beat Jim Campbell; Lost to Cruz Pedregon
Reading: Qual. No. 7; Beat Alexis DeJoria, Cruz Pedregon; Lost to Tommy Johnson Jr.