TOPEKA—J. R. Todd, driving his Lucas Oil Octane Booster Top Fuel dragster, lost a very close battle in the first round of eliminations of the O’Reilly Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka against good friend and fellow ‘Brat Pack’ member, Brandon Bernstein.
Todd left the starting line first (. 057 -. 069) recording a time of 4.667 seconds, 286.74 mph to Bernstein’s 4.625, 311.99 mph in a great side-by-side race that wasn’t determined until the last 50 feet of the 1,320 feet that make up the quarter-mile racing distance. The margin of victory was a tight. 030 - thousandths of a second.
He stated that he felt his race car starting to lose traction close to the finish line spinning the tires resulting in cylinders being dropped and decided to click it early to save the engine, which shows in his under 300 mph top end speed.
Todd qualified in the No. 8 position with his time of 4.623 seconds, 322.34 mph.
He maintains his position of No. 12 in the POWERade Top Fuel points standings with 310 and trails by 67 points out of the Countdown to the Championship roster at the halfway point of the regular season.
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