Five races into the 2025 season, J.R. Todd and his DHL GR Supra team continue to make progress in their return to form; they’ve enjoyed some glimmers of hope but want more. The 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series continues May 16-18 at the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals near Chicago.
Todd is now eighth in the NHRA Funny Car point standings on the strength of a No. 4 qualifying effort in Las Vegas and round wins in both Las Vegas and Charlotte. The DHL Funny Car is going down the track and making solid runs on most passes. That’s positive.
“To get better, you have to go down the track; it’s a process, and of course, we want instant results,” Todd said. “It’s a bit of a long process so every time we go down the track, it’s more data for Dickie and Jon-O (Crew Chief Dickie Venables and Assistant Crew Chief Jon Oberhofer) to look at and fine tune things. We’re definitely getting more consistent – we’re slowly picking away at it to get quicker and quicker.
“We’ll get a better sense of where we are now that we’re back to two-wide racing so we get two shots at each lane during qualifying instead of one in each lane – it takes away some of the guesswork of only having one shot at each lane at the four-wide races. We had some issues in qualifying in Charlotte but rebounded pretty well on Sunday. We made a couple of pretty good runs so I’m confident we can hit the ground running Friday in Chicago.”
Strong runs fix most things and energize the team, especially when they end with a win light signifying a round win on Sunday. Each run is one more step in the process, but a win light is not only helpful but also hopeful.
“It definitely feels good, especially when they’ve been hard to come by,” Todd said. “When you get one, you can’t help wondering if it’s your day to keep turning them on. It just goes to show how difficult it is to win out there. Guys that are winning make it look easy, and it’s anything but easy. I don’t think confidence is down for anyone on our team; they know it’s a work in progress, and we’ve shown glimmers of hope. We don’t know when the breakthrough will come, but we know it’s coming.”
Race Information:
Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals
Route 66 Raceway; Joliet, Ill.
TV Schedule (All times eastern):
- Qualifying Show 1: 9:30-11 p.m. Friday, May 16 on FS1
- Qualifying Show 2: 11-Noon Sunday, May 18 on FS1
- Finals: 2-5 p.m. Sunday, May 18 on FS1
2024 Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals Recap: Qualified No. 12; lost to Alexis Dejoria.
This story was originally published on May 14, 2025. 
