J.R. Todd's Fifth Funny Car Win Of The Season Has Him In Position To Win Championship

Monday, October 29, 2018 at 10:27 AM

By Mike Perleberg @mikedup84

The Lawrenceburg native is on the cusp of claiming a 2018 NHRA Funny Car Championship.

J.R. Todd and Kalitta Motorsports won the Funny Car title at NHRA Toyota Nationals in Las Vegas on Sunday, October 28. Photo courtesy Kalitta Motorsports.

(Las Vegas, Nev.) – J.R. Todd is in the drivers seat for a National Hot Rod Association Funny Car season championship.

The Lawrenceburg, Indiana native rose to the top of the Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship Funny Car points standings by winning the NHRA Toyota Nationals in Las Vegas on Sunday.

Driving Kalitta Motorsports’ DHL/WIX Filters funny car, he defeated Matt Hagan in the finals with his winning run of 3.921 at 318.39. The win is the fifth in Funny Car this year for Todd.

"We qualified 16th on Friday and then we were bumped from the field before we ran in Q3 on Saturday. We were really aggressive in Q3 and ran a 3.91 and ended up second. That just goes to show how hard these DHL Toyota guys work," said J.R.

It is the third straight event in which Todd has reached the finals. He and the team are peaking at the right time.

"We had some issues on Friday and they stayed late and changed the entire fuel system. We came out and made two really good runs on Saturday. Then today, we were pretty much flawless. It's so awesome to drive a car like that when it's so consistent that you don't have to worry if you have to go out and pedal it. You just go up there and smack the tree as hard as you can and get after it."

Todd enjoys a narrow, 74-point lead over defending NHRA Funny Car champion Robert Hight, who lost in the first round. The playoffs continue at the final event of the season: the NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona.

The driver says there is some unfinished business in California.

"Hopefully, we can go out there and win two trophies."