READING, Pa. – It’s make it or break it time for J. R. Todd and his entire Lucas Oil Fuel Treatment team as they head into this weekend’s 24th annual Toyo Tires Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway.
Being mired in the No. 13 spot in the Countdown to the Championship and 108 points behind a Top 10 spot is not how last year’s No. 7 finisher wants this story line to turn out. Mathematically probable, what he has to do from this point on is make his championship push in a two-part race strategy. The maximum amount of points a driver may accumulate for an event is 118 points, minus 31, the minimum a qualified driver will earn, leaving Todd 87 as his greatest potential surge with a win and Low E. T. Top Qualifier with a first round loss for No. 10 place runner, David Grubnic along with 12th to 16th qualifying start for him. Every round is worth 20 points, with every participating driver attaining a base 10 points for just a qualifying attempt.
“Anything is possible,” said an optimistic Todd. “We all know it’s a major uphill climb and our attitude is focused on qualifying high and winning rounds. That’s the only sure way to make it up the ladder if we have any possibilities in getting us there. With the odds against us, it’s the ‘Underdog’ feeling that kind of creates fun in the challenge of making it perhaps happen. We want to help Morgan (Lucas, teammate) in his chances of making the Top 10. That’s what we’re shooting for and we’re not giving up at all.”
On Thursday, Todd and his fellow NHRA drivers will be participating in the NHRA Softball Classic, a benefit game for the Drag Racing Association of Women (DRAW). As part of Gary Scelzi’s SuperChargers, the normally quiet, Todd is relishing in the prospect of a little smash-mouth banter against Antron Brown’s Burn-Down Bombers.
“We had a couple of practices in Brainerd and I know we might have been a little bit out of shape, but we just need to keep working hard making sure we hit and field to produce the SuperChargers some runs,” said Todd. “It’s all for fun, but no one wants to lose…it’s just our nature.”
The start of the 24th annual Toyo Tires Nationals begins at the Maple Grove Raceway on Friday, August 15 with two nitro qualifying sessions starting at 3:30 p.m. (EDT) and 6:30 p.m. Saturday’s time trials start at 12:00 p.m. for the nitro classes followed by a second session at 3:00 p.m. The race starts promptly at 11 a.m. on Sunday, August 10.
. TODD—LUCAS OIL RACING DRIVER NOTES:
J.R. Todd, of Lawrenceburg, Ind., has five NHRA POWERade Top Fuel wins out of seven final round appearances. He claimed his first win, the 2006 Mopar Mile-High Nationals in only his eighth start defeating Tony Schumacher in the finals. He finished eighth in the 2006 NHRA Top Fuel Point standings with 1,105 points after completing his first full season on the competitive 23-race NHRA circuit. He finished eighth with 2,273 points in 2007, making the cut of the first class for the Countdown to the Championship.
Todd’s’ quickest elapsed time is 4.473 seconds, set on Feb. 11, 2007 at Pomona Raceway. He sped to his fastest top speed of 334.24 mph on Nov. 4 in the first round of eliminations at the 2007 Auto Club Final in Pomona, Calif. He has won two Low E.T. qualifier awards—his first on July 21 at the Seattle International Raceway recording a time 4.577 seconds and Sept. 22 on the all-concrete surface of the Texas Motorplex setting the pace with his run of 4.541 seconds. J.R. Todd’s first NHRA Top Fuel event came behind the wheel of the Dexter Tuttle-owned dragster in the 2006 CarQuest Auto Parts Winternationals at the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona on February 12, 2006. He was awarded the 2006 Road to the Future award, which recognizes NHRAs top performing rookie driver.
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