As J.R. Todd stood there, looking down the Gainesville Drag Strip, the thoughts of a new season, a new challenge, and a chance at a third championship flooded his thoughts.

The thoughts rarely change from one season to the next, but mainly it's about shaking off the rust and getting comfortable in his office. After all, almost 90 days between runs is enough to ensure the first hit of the throttle is a breathtaking experience.

"Winning a championship always preoccupies your mind," Todd admitted. "People will say to me, 'you guys finished in the top ten, so you had a good season."

To hear Todd's side, it was a terrible, no-good season.

"By our standards, we didn't," Todd quickly said. "We didn't win a national event, so anything short of that, we feel like we failed. That's step one, you want to win a race, then you want to be in contention for a championship, and we didn't really do either one of those.

"We know that we can contend for a championship because this team's done it twice in the past. I feel like a lot of these guys are new. So, our first step is just to get them a win because they're more than deserving. Then after that, once you get that taste of winning, then you want to keep winning and contend for a championship."

Such is to be expected for a seasoned veteran. Even the thought of being considered seasoned is a tough pill for Todd to accept at times.

Todd has come to accept with each passing season; it's one less opportunity in his career. He understands he's no longer the kid who first licensed in Bruce Litton's Top Fuel dragster in 2000. The same former Jr. Dragster standout who received a pair of Goodyear slicks from drag racing legend Shirley Muldowney as a welcome to nitro racing present.

"When I let my beard grow for a few days, and I got to get in the mirror and shave, and I see those gray hairs, that reminds me that I'm definitely not a young kid out here anymore," Todd said with a smile.

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There was a point in time when Todd wondered if this day would ever come.

"There for a while, it seemed like it took a while for a new crop of young kids to come into the pro ranks where I was a young guy for a while," Todd said. "I definitely don't consider myself an old guy. At least I don't feel like an old guy. But there's certain times when I roll out of bed, and my back hurts, I feel like an old guy.

"It's nice to see guys like Blake Alexander, Bobby Bode, just new fresh talent. That's what the sport needs, and I don't want to be John Force old out here, drag race at the end of the day, but I feel like I still got a lot of years left in me to win races and contend for championships."

Winning motivates Todd, and he's done it a lot in a career that has included driving everything from Super Comp to Pro Modified to Top Fuel. He has 19 NHRA national event victories, and 301 round wins.

"That's the ultimate thing; once you get a taste of it, you want to keep doing it," Todd explained. "Just knowing our past success, and when you don't live up to that, that kind of sets the goal for you. You want to get back to winning races and winning championships.

"This is all I've ever done, really, since I was ten years old. When you meet guys like Don Prudhomme, you work for guys like Connie Kalitta, they've done a lot in the sport, and when you want to set a goal for yourself and do what they have, winning that many races and championships, I still have a long ways to go in my mind.

And just like that, the former teenage phenom realized he's just four years younger than the ageless NFL superstar Tom Brady.

"I wish that I had the success that Tom Brady's had, but if I never win a championship again, I mean, I'll be happy with what I've done in my career," Todd said. "Looking at guys like Capps, he's still getting it done. He was getting it done when I was a kid racing junior dragsters.

"If I could continue on the path like him and guys like Robert Hight, those are guys that I want to be out here. Every year, they're setting the bar for the rest of us and Matt Hagan. They all have multiple championships, and I just want to kind of join that cool-kid club that they're in."