J.R. Todd and his DHL GR Supra team qualified well in Las Vegas and advanced to the semifinals, but only time will tell if more race-day success is near. The 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series continues April 25-27 at the American Rebel Light NHRA Four-Wide Nationals near Charlotte.
Todd made good qualifying runs in very hot conditions and qualified fourth in Las Vegas two weeks ago. It was his best qualifying effort in the four races comprising the season so far. In fact, the DHL team’s qualifying results have improved with each race. Qualifying consistency appears within reach, but the task at hand is continuing that consistency on race day.
“Any drag racer has a short attention span; patience is tough,” Todd said. “I told myself, before the season even started, that once we brought Dickie (Crew Chief Dickie Venables) on, and I learned about all the changes that we made, I knew it’s gonna take some time so just be patient and don’t get frustrated. My job is to go out there and do the best I can, and when things click, hopefully the driver and the car are in sync and then we can go out there and start clicking off wins.”
Todd has two four-wide wins in Las Vegas but has yet to turn on a four-wide win light in Charlotte. He was the runner-up in 2021 but still searches for that elusive Charlotte four-wide win.
“We get to race four wide again this weekend, and hopefully we can have a good race – I’ve never really done that well in this event so it would be cool to turn that around this weekend,” Todd added. “It seems like, for whatever reason, we haven’t done as well in this four-wide event as we’ve done in Vegas so hopefully, this one is our year.”
When Todd advanced to the Las Vegas semifinals, he earned a spot in his first Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge of the season this weekend. During Saturday’s qualifying sessions, the drivers who reached the semifinals in Las Vegas will re-run the semifinals in the four-wide format, with the four winners advancing to the “finals,” earning additional purse and championship bonus points.
TV Schedule (All times eastern):
- Qualifying Show 1: 10-11:30 p.m. Saturday, April 26 on FS1
- Qualifying Show 2: 12:30-1:30 Sunday, April 27 on FS1
- Finals: 7-10 p.m. Sunday, April 27 on FS1
This story was originally published on April 22, 2025. 
