It took sophomore Funny Car driver J.R. Todd almost four years to repay Connie Kalitta for the opportunity of a lifetime. He did so with interest.

Todd's moment began with a phone call.

Todd, then a part-time driver, fielding one of two Top Fuel dragsters for Bob Vandergriff, received a call from drag racing legend Connie Kalitta informing him that he had some driver problems and inquiring if he'd be interested in driving the rest of the 2014 Vegas 1 event. The call came on Friday evening, and by Saturday morning Todd was getting off of a plane at Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport.

Fast forward to Sunday in Reading, Pa., site of the Dodge NHRA Nationals; Todd delivered a coveted 100th win for the decorated team owner Kalitta.

Todd used a quicker reaction time and a 3.972, 319.90 to stop Tim Wilkerson in the Funny Car final round during the opening round of the NHRA's Countdown to the Championship.

Six wins in six final rounds since making the switch to Funny Car in 2017 qualifies Todd and the DHL Funny Car team for having momentum. Todd's win marked his fourth of the season and moved him into the point lead.

"It’s awesome to be able to keep the momentum going; we’ve still got a long road ahead of us. These guys, they know how to win, a lot of them were there for the 2015 Championship year with Del Worsham, and we just want to keep winning. Keep our foot on their throats is what I’ve been saying. We got some gifts early on today with the cars in front of us going out early, and it was nice to be able to come out here with the win and gain on those guys and Courtney. Now we’ve just got to keep it rolling through St. Louis."
 
Todd said in not so many words; the success is a natural byproduct of the efforts his Kalitta Motorsports team makes on a regular basis.

"They’re racing smart," Todd explained. "It goes back to the TRD guys and Chad Head out there checking the track for us and giving Todd and Jon O. those grip numbers. That’s key for us. They race what the track will allow us. We definitely didn’t have the best car this weekend, but I felt like we had a really good car. They just go up there and race smart and try not to beat ourselves.

"You’ve got to go down the track to win these things, and that’s what we’re doing. This weekend, man we murdered a bunch of parts. For whatever reason, we just had a bunch of dumb things happen that never really happen. So the guys had some late nights Friday and Saturday, and it was nice to be able to pay them back on Sunday with another win."

Todd was the picture of consistency all day Sunday, winning with passes ranging from 3.982 (Bob Tasca III), 3.996 (Mike Smith), and a 3.975 (Ron Capps) to reach the final round.

"The consistency has come around since I’d say the semifinals in Brainerd," Todd said. "We struggled throughout the summer and made some changes going into the Indy test, and it really paid off going to the U.S. Nationals and coming into here. The car’s really consistent. We made some good runs in qualifying, but it still should have run better than what it had just because of those parts breaking.

"We knew that we had a car that was capable of running with the top cars out here. One run it was going to run a low .90, and it didn’t make it to the finish line under power. It got our confidence up for today and like I said, just racing smart more than anything."

Todd also understands the value of getting hot at the right time, an identical approach the 2015 DHL team with Del Worsham driving pulled off to win the championship.

"We’re going to have to win some more races if we want to win this thing," Todd said. "The Funny Car category is so tough, and you’ve got to have some breaks fall your way, and that’s what happened for us today. Yeah, we got to keep the ball rolling. I mean we got points and a half in Pomona, but we’ve still got a long way before we get to Pomona, so we just want to keep earning points. I mean we gained three bonus points in one of the qualifying rounds, and that’s the type of things that we need to do, gain as many points as we can going into the end of the season."

Todd just smiles at the good fortunes which have come his way.

"I’ve been fortunate enough in my career to be around a lot of great people," Todd said. "I say they make me look good. I have the lucky part of just get in there and hit the gas and try and keep the thing straight down the track. Once I got the call from Connie, I knew that I was with a team that was capable of winning races and winning championships, and I feel like this is my best opportunity to go out there and achieve those things."