It was a career-defining season for DHL GR Supra driver J.R. Todd, and the 2018 NHRA Top Fuel champion finds himself in a pretty good spot entering the 2024 NHRA Playoffs. The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs begin Sept. 13-15, 2024 at the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals in Mohnton, Pa.
Todd entered the 2018 Countdown as the fifth seed and won three races in five final rounds in the six-race Countdown. Five final rounds in six races is stout – it’s the kind of performance that wins championships, and Todd is in search of that same Countdown magic that could potentially lead to another title.
“We still have some work to do with our DHL GR Supra, but we’re in a good position now,” Todd said. It’s probably our best position at this point in the season since we won the championship in 2018. The only pressure I ever feel is the pressure I put on myself. I’m usually pretty hard on myself because, in my mind, if you’re gonna be a great driver out here, you have to expect the best.”
And to win a championship in an incredibly tight Funny Car field, Todd will need the best from himself and his team. After the Countdown points reset and the addition of Mission Foods NHRA Challenge championship bonus points earned during the season, Todd enters the Countdown as the fourth seed 54 points behind first-place Austin Prock, eight points behind third-place Matt Hagan and 17 points ahead of fifth-place Ron Capps. The top-10 drivers in the Funny Car field are separated by 125 points.
“Reading is a big race because it’s the first race of the Countdown,” Todd said. “We need to come out swinging and be aggressive. Now is the time to make a run for the championship. With only six races in the Countdown, we have to be aggressive on every run possible. These next six are the most-important races of the year. The first one can set the tone for the rest of the season so you definitely want to go to the later rounds. It would be really nice to start off with a win and kind of see where the points shake out after that, but that first one is really important.”
Despite winning the final Mission Foods NHRA Challenge at the Toyota U.S. Nationals two weeks ago, Todd lost in the first round, and the team stayed in Indianapolis to test in preparation for the Countdown.
“Conditions were cool in testing last week,” Todd said. “Those are probably some conditions we’re going to see throughout the Countdown so we have to figure out how to improve our performance in these kinds of track conditions. I have confidence in these guys, and hopefully, they’ll figure it out and have this DHL GR Supra out front where it belongs.
“I like racing at Reading. It’s one of those old school tracks with some history, character and passionate fans. In 2018, it was the start of our championship run. We won Indy and went in there and won the first race of the Countdown. We obviously didn’t win Indy this year, but I feel like we can go into Reading and do some good.”
This story was originally published on September 12, 2024. 
