Oh, how a situation can change in a decade. Time can also fly by when one is having fun. 

Past NHRA series champion J.R. Todd is admittedly having the time of his life as the Funny Car point leader. This weekend’s NHRA event in Las Vegas marks a decade when Todd was sitting on the sidelines watching NCAA basketball when Kalitta Motorsports called inviting him to drive their Top Fuel dragster. 

Todd was to be the replacement for David Grubnic, who was unceremoniously dumped after Friday’s two sessions. Todd had one shot to prove his worth.

Todd had to start from scratch as he became a new entry for the event. It might as well have been this way since the Kalitta team was unqualified headed into Saturday after a 5.10 elapsed time best, which was good for No. 15 at the end of the first session. They were bumped from the show when the Q2 session resulted in a starting line double-step and aborted run. 

Todd’s first hit was a conservative 3.896, 310.34, good enough for the No. 12 spot in the show. He stepped up in the second session with a 3.841, 310.20, to finish qualifying as eleventh quickest. 

Todd ended up knocking off Richie Crampton in the first round before losing to Steve Torrence. But for him, the job was his for the taking. 

“It’s crazy that it’s already been ten years; it’s definitely flown by, and a lot of good things happened,” Todd said. “We won a lot of races since then, won a championship, and I’m very thankful for that call from Connie Kalitta 10 years ago. 

“At the time, I was racing part-time for Bob Vandergriff, and we weren’t scheduled to race that weekend. I had been out used car shopping with my Mom and Dad, and it was March Madness. We were at Buffalo Wild Wings, drinking beer, eating wings, and watching college basketball when the call came. He called from someone else’s phone, so I didn’t know it was him. I didn’t go into panic mode or anything when I knew it was him, but I was kind of like, ‘Oh (shoot); it’s time to make it happen.’

“It was probably around 7 pm Eastern time; he asked me if I could find a flight to be in Las Vegas first thing Saturday morning, so that’s the first thing I did and then called him back and told him I had a flight. After that, I had to go home and pack and then get to Vandergriff’s to get my driving gear. I got maybe an hour or two of sleep. I rented a car and got to the track before pretty much anybody else. You leave Indy at seven in the morning, and you land in Las Vegas at like seven in the morning.

FLASHBACK - 2014 NHRA VEGAS-1 NOTEBOOK

​“The crew guys showed up not long after because they knew there was gonna be some extra work to do, and it was a little awkward at first, but once the ice was broken, we got to work and got me fitted in the car. Next thing you know, we’re warming
it up and getting ready for Q3 (third round of qualifying) on Saturday, and the rest is history. We beat Richie Crampton; he’s one of my really good friends, and Steve Torrence beat us second round. He was a little chirpy about that. All in all, Connie was happy. I didn’t know if it was a one-race deal or if they were hiring me full-time. I’ll never forget, at the end of the day, what kind of assured me was after the second round, Connie said, ‘We’re gonna win a lot of races together.’ So after that, I thought, ‘I guess I’m getting hired.’

Talking about making the most of his opportunity, Todd went on to finish second in the championship points. He eventually transitioned from Top Fuel to Funny Car. Now, here he is, the 2018 NHRA Funny Car champion, in the thick of another championship run in the flopper.

“Yeah, that’s pretty wild,” Todd said. It’s definitely cool to be able to say we’re the points leader; we haven’t been able to say that in a long time. Of course, you win the first race, and you’re the points leader, but to stretch it out after the third race is pretty cool. We just need to keep riding the wave of momentum like we have been, keep clicking off those round wins, and we’ll be in a good position.”

When Todd advanced to the quarterfinals in Phoenix last weekend, he earned a spot in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge this week. During Saturday’s qualifying sessions, the drivers who reached the quarterfinals in Phoenix will re-run the quarterfinals in the 4-Wide format, with the four winners advancing to the “finals” earning additional purse and championship bonus points. 

“Anytime you’re making those Mission Foods races, it means you’re doing something right,” Todd added. “I said in Gainesville that if we can keep getting into those, we’ll be going in the right direction. When the car goes up and down the track like that, it gives everybody confidence, especially when it’s one of the quickest cars out there. I’d say our Phoenix weekend gives us hope heading into the summer months that we’ll have a good, competitive car. It’s good that we’re in the Mission deal in Vegas for the Four-Wides. It’ll be the first time doing that, so it’ll be unique for the fans on Saturday. Hopefully, we can pick up some more points in that deal and leave with another Four-Wide trophy.”