Think back, way back, to the days right after high school. What were you doing as a bright-eyed 18-year-old with a diploma and a dream?

Were you looking ahead to college? Your first job? How about a new car? Or maybe you had no idea what you wanted to do.

All are natural steps in the ritual that is the transition from teenager to the real world.

But, for some, they know exactly what it is they want to be when they grow up. And that is where we introduce a young JR Todd into the story.

From a very young age, Todd knew that he wanted to be a racer. From Junior Dragster, to Super Comp, to bracket racing, Todd had years of experience under his belt by the time he walked across that stage and was handed his diploma. 

And, in the days following his high school graduation, Todd was back behind the wheel learning to drive once again. But we are not talking about a decades-old, hand-me-down car we all remember, no, Todd was learning how to drive one of the fastest machines on earth – a 10,000 horsepower behemoth known as a Top Fuel dragster.

“A week after I graduated high school, I was in Norwalk getting my license in a Top Fuel car,” Todd recalled.

So much for learning to drive the family sedan.

“I remember moving up from Junior Dragster to Super Comp and bracket racing. And I remember right away wanting to move on to something quicker and faster,” Todd said. “Really, the goal was to go Top Alcohol racing. I went to Frank Hawley’s school and drove his Top Alcohol Dragster and I remember we were going to try and do a deal with Keith Stark to drive an A-Fuel car and, for whatever reason, that didn’t pan out.

“By that time in my life, people I had raced with in Junior Dragster and bracket racing knew that we were looking to do something at a higher level. And one of those guys at that time happened to be a chassis builder for Bruce Litton. He said that if we were wanting to do something, there is an opportunity to drive a second car with Bruce on the IHRA side. And that is where it all got started.”

And they all lived happily ever after. Well, sort of.

At least at the time, it appeared all of Todd’s dreams were coming true.

“As a kid it is your dream to get to that level, but you never think it is going to happen,” Todd said. “Once you get there, you get knocked back down to earth pretty quickly. You know this is not going to be an easy path.”

A few weeks later, Todd made his debut. Racing against some of the sport’s most prominent names, legends such as Shirley Muldowney and Paul Romine, Todd recalls feeling nerves unlike anything else that he has ever experienced in his career.

“It was definitely the most scared I have ever been at any point in drag racing. I remember there was an eight-car match race at the time for Top Fuel. Bruce was running his car, so was Paul and Shirley, big hitters on the IHRA side at the time, and they are all watching me making my first run in a Top Fuel car,” Todd said. “The first run I go before I stage and hit the gas. I went ahead and shut the fuel off, went the wrong way on the lever, and made a big rookie mistake right off the bat.”

Thankfully, the rest of the drivers were right there to pick him up and set him on the right path.

“Once you make a mistake like that, everybody is coming up to you and telling you about the mistakes they have made in the past, and it was definitely comforting,” Todd said.

With seemingly everything going according to plan, Todd played out the rest of that first season getting his feet wet on the IHRA circuit. But, as these things tend to do, the road to the top would not come without a few bumps in the road.

“When I was right out of high school and I am suddenly driving at that level, I thought I am going to be able to do this for the rest of my life,” Todd said. “And then you get a reality check pretty quick after that.”

During the offseason, in January of 2001, Bruce Litton’s race shop burned to the ground in a freak accident, setting not only Litton’s racing operation back, but forcing Litton to sideline his second car, leaving Todd without a ride.

“The fire definitely set us back. That put us on the back burner,” Todd said.

Without a ride, Todd continued to travel the IHRA circuit with Litton, learning as much as he could about the sport, the cars and the components that make them go. In between getting to run a few match races on the side, Todd met up with Litton’s crew chief Nicky Boninfante and the two joined forces in a move to run Bob Gilbertson’s Funny Car operation on the NHRA side.

“When Nicky left, he suggested that I might as well come with him and be a crew guy and learn as much as I can while still keeping my name and face out there in drag racing,” Todd said. “That is the path I took. I moved to Charlotte and got to learn a lot working under Nicky and Tommy Delago on that Funny Car.”

While keeping his name out there was important, it was what he learned behind the scenes that Todd credits for a lot of his successes today.

“When I first got in a Top Fuel car, I didn’t know anything about them. I just got in there, hit the gas and tried to keep the thing straight to the finish line. That time from 2001 to the end of 2005, it was a mixed bag of emotions,” Todd said. “I had fun being a crew member, but I wanted to drive so bad that it is all you eat, sleep and think about.

“Looking back on it, it was definitely a blessing. It makes me appreciate what I have now more than anything. It also, at the same time, made me a better driver. Just understanding how those things work and what makes them go down the track meant a lot.”

And the rest, as they say, is history.

At the beginning of 2006, Todd received his first major ride, driving the Tuttle Motorsports entry with backing from Evan Knoll. During that season, Todd went on to become the first African-American to win a Top Fuel event on his way to three wins in a limited schedule. During a whirlwind rookie season, Todd raced to an eighth-place finish in the championship standings and a Road to the Future honor from NHRA, recognizing the sport’s top performing rookie.

The following year, Todd had an equally impressive season, advancing in the Countdown to the Championship to the final four. He was riding high, but by 2008 the money had dried up and he was once again without a ride. He turned to part-time drives for six years and sponsorship fell apart.

Through it all, Todd pointed out, was his father, who always made sure times never got too hard on the young driver.

“He never forced it on me. He told me if there was ever a time I wanted to quit, we will go find something else to do,” Todd said. “But after you get a taste for it, you don’t ever want to quit. For the next few years it was really frustrating trying to find sponsors and getting so close to having something inked and ready and then it falls apart at the last second and it is back to the drawing board.

“There are times you are thinking, ‘it is time to find something else to do.’ Luckily, I surrounded myself with the right people who actually care and look out for you. Somehow, it all worked out because one thing lead to another and I am back driving again.”

And that is where this story takes on an almost fairytale like turn. 

Three races into the 2014 season, a full six years after his last NHRA win and almost two years since his last race, Todd received the call of a lifetime, one that he still can’t believe was real. On the other end of that call was Connie Kalitta. And he wanted Todd to race for him – in the middle of a race weekend.

“Honestly, when I first got the call, I did think it was a joke. That day I had been texting and calling ‘Cowboy” Bob Coffman back and forth and usually when he is getting with me it is to chat, see how things are going and tell a joke or two,” Todd said. “So he is texting me on a Friday night, I’m in Indy with my parents and a few other people at a Buffalo Wild Wings watching college basketball. Bob texts me that he is going to call, so I have my phone ready. When it finally rings, I am like ‘hey Bob, what is going on’ and on the other end, it isn’t Bob, it is Connie. That got my attention pretty quick.

“I immediately ran outside where I can hear and he asked if I was interested in flying out to Las Vegas and drive his car. There was a moment of silence when he told me they were having some issues and asked if I could book some flights and be there the next day. We left the restaurant right away, went to my place, found a flight, packed a bag, got two hours of sleep and the next thing you know I am in Vegas.

“The next morning I got to the track around 8 a.m., the crew guys show up and I am in the car getting ready to warm it up and make our first run on Saturday in Q3.”

In what seemed like a flash, Todd’s return led to a win, two runner-up finishes, three top qualifier awards and a career-best second place finish in the championship standings. In 2015, it was much of the same, with another win and another spot in the Countdown to the Championship, the third of his career.

As Todd begins to enter his third full season driving for the legendary Connie Kalitta and the Kalitta Motorsports team, with brand new sponsor SealMaster splashed on the side of the car, it doesn’t take Todd long to reflect on just what this opportunity means after so many years just struggling to be noticed.

“For me, it has been a bunch of highs and lows up to this point. The ultimate high is right now, racing for, in my opinion, the best team in drag racing,” Todd said. “I don’t have to worry about anything but driving the car. I can focus on that knowing that I have everything possible to go out there and contend for a championship.

“I’ve never had that in my career and now that I have that opportunity, I am going to live the moment to the fullest.”