J.R. TODD, DHL FUNNY CAR IGNORE REAR VIEW, LOOK FORWARD
YPSILANTI, MI – For 2018 NHRA Funny Car champion J.R. Todd and his DHL Toyota team, it could be tempting to look back at all that 
transpired in the last month, but instead, Todd is looking forward – forward to the next run, forward to the next race and definitely forward to the rest of the season. The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing season resumes Friday with the Circle K NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway near Charlotte April 28-30, 2023.
The season’s first four races included a semifinal appearance, a berth in the inaugural #Mission2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge, a qualifying accident, an engine explosion and failing to qualify for a race. After an April that was eventful, to say the least, Todd and team would like nothing better than to resume what they started when the season began and finish the month with a four-wide win, and it all starts with the first qualifying attempt.
“All we can do is go up there, hit the gas in Q1(first qualifying session), do what I know how to do, hope the car goes down the track in a straight line and a quick manner and get the thing qualified where it should be,” Todd said. “You can’t dwell on all the things that happened in the last few weeks because if you do, you’ll just go out there and make mistakes. That’s not what I’m paid to do. We are only looking forward; it’s still early in the year so we have plenty of time to regroup, put what’s happened in the past and go out there and win races so we can contend for a championship.
“We have a really good group of guys that work really hard. I hope we can pay them back with results right away, but it’ll be a process. At the end of the day, with all they went through in the last few weeks, I’m sure it caught up to them and that they needed that week off to get ready to go to Charlotte. I have all the confidence in the world in our DHL crew guys; they don’t get down and out or complain about anything. That week off came at a good time because the guys could get back to the shop, have time to go through everything and then enjoy some time off before getting back into race mode this week.”
The DHL GR Supra team started the season with great optimism that began with off-season changes, a new car, solid pre-season testing and early-season results. All of that remains, but the rest of the season begins Friday afternoon with the opening qualifying session.
“We have a really good car; at the end of the day, we still have to go out there, do what we need to do and compete for wins. We’ve regrouped, put all that behind us and are ready to go. The Countdown allows you to make some mistakes along the way and still be in position to battle it out for the championship after the points reset. We aren’t looking that far ahead. We’re only looking at Charlotte. Step one is to go down the track, get the car qualified and then work on winning the race.”
Race Information:
Circle K NHRA Four-Wide Nationals
zMAX Dragway, Concord, N.C.
TV Schedule:
Qualifying 1: 7-8:30 p.m. Friday, April 28 on FS1
Qualifying 2: Noon-1 p.m. Sunday, April 30 on FS1
Finals: 6-9 p.m. Sunday, April 30 on FS1
2022 Circle K NHRA 4-Wide Nationals Recap: Qualified sixth, defeated Tim Wilkerson and Jason Rupert, lost to Ron Capps and Matt Hagan
J.R. Todd Career Stats: 281 events, 307 round wins, 19 wins, 42 final rounds, 14 No. 1 qualifiers
2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Results To Date:
Gainesville: Qualified sixth; defeated Blake Alexander, Robert Hight, Chad Green; lost to Matt Hagan in final.
Phoenix: Qualified 15th and lost to Alexis DeJoria in the first round.
Pomona: Qualified fifth and lost to Alex Laughlin in the first round.
Las Vegas: Did not qualify.
Current Point Standings: Todd enters Charlotte in 11th place in the NHRA Funny Car point standings. He trails 10th place Blake Alexander by 15 points and leads 12th place Alex Laughlin by 16 points.
