J.R. Todd Wants to Keep Top Fuel Streak Alive
BRAINERD, Minn. -- J.R. Todd calls July "the most exciting month of my life." Friday he begins scripting August as he continues his young, but already very rewarding, career driving Dexter Tuttle's SKULL Shine/Knoll Gas-Torco Racing Fuels Top Fuel dragster.
The race site shifts to Brainerd (Minn.) International Raceway, home of the 25th annual Lucas Oil Nationals, Aug. 11-13
Todd is currently the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series' most-talked-about driver - the one who wrested the spotlight from the championship contenders by going from an unknown to fan favorite in three weeks. Winning the first (Denver) and last (Sonoma, Calif.) races in the grueling three-stop Western Swing brought him instant recognition. The fact he defeated Tony Schumacher - the three-time defending Top Fuel champion - in both final rounds merely added Hollywood-like glitz to the story.
The victories, by the way, came in his ninth and 11th NHRA starts.
"It's unbelievable that a rookie almost swept the Western Swing," said Todd, 24, whose semifinal loss at Seattle was administered by Schumacher. "When you look back on it, Schumacher stood in the way of us sweeping the Swing and we stood in his way.
"We've been on a hot streak for the last three or four races. We'll be doing our best to keep up that kind of performance and maybe we can pick up another win along the way. Brainerd is a good track. If we qualify well, anything can happen on race day . . . we already showed that."
Todd, of Lawrenceburg, Ind., noted that winning rounds - 10 of his 14 round wins came in the last three races - bettered the new crew's performance. "We 've improved our maintenance between rounds and the crewmembers are learning their roles. Things have gone smoother and we've had fewer mistakes. Their confidence is showing. And (crew chief) Jimmy Walsh has the car running well. We have a car that is capable of winning more races."
When the season began, Todd and the team expected to run a limited schedule. But all that changed when Evan Knoll brought SKULL Shine/Torco Racing Fuels sponsorship in May. That was eight races ago. Since then, Todd has logged all 14 round wins, added 536 points to his total and climbed from 19th to 12th in the standings. He has 614 points and is just 60 points (three rounds) from a coveted berth in the top 10.
With that said, Todd knows nothing comes easy, nor is anything guaranteed.
"This is a humbling sport," he says. "You really can go from a hero to a zero very quickly."
Right now he's taking everything a race at a time . . . and not looking back. August, after all, is a different month. What will he do for an encore?
