Racing in the later rounds is a sign of success, and it’s something J.R. Todd and his DHL team want to do more often. The 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series continues July 18-20 at the Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals near Seattle.
In a rebuilding year, success can come slowly, but it’s been a steady climb for Todd and his DHL GR Supra team. A race win in New Hampshire in early June is the highlight so far, but you “can’t win ‘em all” as the saying goes. That race win and a semifinal run two weeks later near Richmond, Va., indicate this team did what it was supposed to do in the season’s opening half.
“It’s definitely an improvement from where we started, which means we’re doing what we’re trying to do,” Todd said. “That’s make more runs and learn as we go, which we’re still doing. I hate that we stumbled like we did in Norwalk, but this DHL team is focused. We put that behind us, and now it’s time to start making a move.”
Indeed, it is, and Todd enters the season’s second half in sixth place in points 86 points behind fifth place but only 116 behind third place. Just four races remain in the regular season, and the next two, near Seattle and in Sonoma, Calif., on consecutive weekends, represent the perfect time to make a run of consistency. Winning races is great, but just going down the track with good, consistent runs and advancing to the semifinals and finals can be almost as impactful.
“Things can definitely change within a race,” Todd said. “If guys go out early, and you go out and win, that definitely could shift the points around a little bit. Ideally, you definitely want to be in the top two or three in points so you’re kind of breaking away, but we definitely can get inside the top five. With points and a half at Indy (the last race of the regular season), anything could happen so we just need to focus on being consistent and going to the later rounds of these next four races.”
As the regular season winds down and the Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs begin after Indianapolis, the sport’s intensity naturally builds. Each race is more important making each run down the track more important, but does a driver change anything at that point of the season?
“It seems that way, but I don’t wanna think I change from the beginning of the year to this point in the year,” Todd said. “Definitely, I think once the western swing hits and you get through that, people start focusing on Indy and the Countdown, and the intensity definitely ramps up. It seems like all the guys are just more focused, and some people get a little more tense. At the end of the day, you have to treat every race the same in my book.”
Easier said than done.
This story was originally published on July 15, 2025. 
