For J.R. Todd, it’s best friends racing each other when he faces Brandon Bernstein in the first round of eliminations at the 21st annual Fram/Autolite Nationals at Infineon Raceway.
In overall match ups Todd holds the lead over Bernstein (4-3) with their last meeting being the first round at Topeka earlier this year which Bernstein won. In this racing season, the pair is 1-1 against each other as Todd defeated him on a hole-shot in Atlanta back in April.
“Yeah, it’s tough when you have to race one of your best friends,” said Todd, who qualified in the No. 14 position for the first time of his career with an elapsed time of 4.046 seconds, 282.30 mph. “When we put the helmets on tomorrow, no one will be thinking about friendships, but just who will be the first to reach the finish line. We’ve had some good races in the past and I count on this one being the same.”
Entering the event, Todd needs to overcome his deficit of 103 points in the NHRA points standings for inclusion in the Top 10 with four races remaining on the drag racing calendar.
“We need to win the race tomorrow if we want to see any daylight for the Countdown to the Championship,” said Todd. “It just that simple…win rounds and gain some points. We still have a good margin to make up and we can still do it.”
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