Lucas Oil Fuel Treatment driver, J.R. Todd lost in the first round of eliminations at the 54th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at O’Reilly Raceway Park to nemesis, Doug Kalitta.
Todd had a huge starting line advantage over Kalitta (.069 - .104) and was streaking away from his opponent until around 330 feet out when his Lucas Oil dragster started losing traction, hazing the tires, allowing Kalitta to pass him before the pair of drivers reached the 1,000 feet finish line.
Kalitta won the round with a time of 3.957 seconds, 304.12 mph to Todd’s pass of 4.212 seconds, 253.14 mph.
He was the No. 5 qualifier in the tough Top Fuel field running an elapsed time of 3.873 seconds, 309.91 mph
This being the last race in the Countdown to the Championship, Todd will finish in the No. 13 position with 646 points after the completion of 18 of 24 NHRA National events.
Up next for the Lucas Oil Fuel Treatment team will the Carolina Nationals in the brand new state-of-the-art Carolina Dragway at Concord on Sept. 11 – 14.
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