TODD MAKES IT TO THE SEMI-FINALS AT THE CHARLOTTE FOUR-WIDE

Charlotte, NC – Qualifying: J.R. Todd was the No. 12 qualifier at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals. His quickest qualifying attempt came in Saturday’s first session when he reached the finish line in 3.932 seconds at 296.50 mph.

Eliminations: Todd and the DHL Toyota team defeated Ron Capps and Buddy Hull before defeating Alexis Dejoria and Cruz Pedregon in the semifinals. In the final, Todd defeated John Force but lost to race winner Matt Hagan and runner-up Dan Wilkerson.

Todd reached at least the semifinals at each of the season’s first five races.

When Todd advanced to the four-wide final round, he earned a spot in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge in Chicago in three weeks. During Saturday’s qualifying sessions, the drivers who reached the four-wide final round in Charlotte will re-run the semifinals and finals in the two-wide format earning additional purse and championship bonus points.

Unofficial Point Standings: Todd leaves Charlotte in second place in the NHRA Funny Car point standings. He trails points leader Austin Prock by 19 points and leads third-place Matt Hagan by 15 points.

Todd on Charlotte: “We made a good rebound from qualifying. It’s always good to get to the later rounds, the final round in a Four-Wide Nationals. We dropped a cylinder really early in the run, which stinks. I think we had a good shot at winning that thing for SealMaster, Safety-Kleen and Revchem if it ran on all eight. That shows that we’re making good strides with this DHL GR Supra – just need to keep picking at it. We didn’t have lane choice all day, and I don’t think it’s a big factor in regards to Four-Wides. I don’t think qualifying is a big factor when it comes to Four-Wides, either. That’s not the reason we put a hole out. We’ve been battling, dropping cylinders all weekend. Now, we have a couple weeks off so we’ll go back home and give the guys some rest, regroup and get ready for Chicago.”