The evolution of J.R. Todd’s DHL GR Supra team is now officially underway with the addition of four-time NHRA championship Crew Chief Dickie Venables during the off-season, but the message, at the moment, is patience. The 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series continues March 21-23, 2025, at the NHRA Arizona Nationals in Chandler, Ariz.
The 2025 season started with a bit of a thud nearly two weeks ago when foul weather, a less-than-perfect race track, and even a county-wide power outage played havoc with the NHRA Gatornationals weekend schedule. It was not how anyone wanted to start the season, but for the record, Todd qualified 11th in rain-shortened qualifying and lost in the first round. A brilliant season debut? No, but at this point, it’s all about runs down the race track.
“Gainesville was kind of throwaway race for a lot of people – just not the best weather or track conditions,” Todd said. “The Gainesville circumstances didn’t help our cause so I don’t know that we can really take anything away from there to apply to Phoenix, but each time we get on the track, we’re learning so that’s good. Hopefully we can hit the ground running for the first run in Phoenix, get qualified well and then go to work.”
Change is at the heart of evolution itself, and a crew chief change for the DHL team could be just what it needs to evolve. What was quickly evident is that changes generating a new overall direction for this talented team have the team energized for what everyone hopes is ahead.
“I think the morale is higher than it has been in the past,” the 2018 NHRA Funny Car champion said. “Just knowing that once we get things figured out and worked out, I think we’re gonna be a contender and be able to run with the top guys out there, but in the meantime, we just gotta be patient and take it run-by-run. It’s not like Dickie can just wave a magic wand on the car, and it’s like, ‘all right, here we go; this thing’s gonna rip.’ We’re looking at the big picture; we want to be able to compete with these guys when it matters, and that’s later in the year. I know we all have expectations of winning races and competing for a championship, but we have to be patient.
“I listen to Dickie and Jon-O (Assistant Crew Chief Jon Oberhofer) go over the runs. We talk about the changes we’re making, and the results they’re seeing. We’re just kind of taking baby steps because if you take big swings at this thing, and it doesn’t work – you can get yourself lost. In NASCAR, for instance, those guys are in the race, and they’re always working on making their stuff better for the end. We don’t have that opportunity. We have to hit the ground running when we show up at the track, and like I said, it’s gonna take us some time to get there.”
This story was originally published on March 19, 2025. 
