J.R. Todd and the DHL Funny Car Race to Semi-Final Finish

DENVER – Qualifying: J.R. Todd was the No. 7 qualifier at the Dodge Power Brokers NHRA Mile-High Nationals. Todd reached the finish line in 3.998 seconds at 323.04 mph during the final qualifying session Saturday evening.

Eliminations: Todd raced to his third semifinal in the last four races. He defeated Tim Wilkerson and John Force before losing to Alexis Dejoria in the semifinals. Todd was ahead most of the race until the DHL Toyota encountered mechanical problems allowing Dejoria to advance.

Unofficial Point Standings: Todd leaves Denver in ninth place in the NHRA Funny Car point standings. He trails 8th-place John Force by 60 points and leads 10th place Cruz Pedregon by 26 points.

Todd on Denver: “Three semifinals in four races – that’s good momentum; the DHL Toyota GR Supra ran really well today. It’s just unfortunate that it dropped a cylinder in the semifinal. It spun the tires, then the boost rev deal went off and shut the car off, and when it did that, it put the chutes out so we were a sitting duck at that point. It’s a really unfortunate way to lose when we had the better car that could have contended for the win in the final round. We’ll put it behind us and go on to Seattle.

“It’s really hard to race up here in Denver, and I hope getting three cars in the semifinals is a sign of more good things to come. I feel like a win for at least one of our Kalitta teams is coming really soon. It’s awesome to see a packed house here today – hopefully it’s not the last time we race in Denver.”