Since 1978 the NHRA Mile-High Nationals held at iconic Bandimere Speedway located just outside of Denver has created many magical moments during its illustrious tenure on the NHRA schedule. One of those moments was when a lesser-known Junior Dragster graduate turned fuel racer toppled one of the era's most seasoned and dominating Top Fuel drivers.

J.R. Todd, who licensed as a Top Fuel driver as a teenager, then served as a Funny Car crewman when he lost his ride, topped Tony Schumacher in the final round of the 2006 NHRA Mile-high Nationals. It was the first time he'd hoisted an NHRA trophy as a professional.

And to celebrate the milestone victory, Todd exited the Dexter Tuttole-owned dragster and promptly gave a military salute to the U.S. Army-sponsored driver. When looking back on the uphill battle he faced in scorching heat and altitude challenges, some believe it was the relatively unknown driver, who made his debut earlier that season in Pomona, Ca., who deserved the salute. 

"You never expect to get your first NHRA win by outrunning Tony
Schumacher in the final," Todd said in a post-race interview. "I didn't even know how to act down there. I was stunned. To beat that team straight up is almost unbelievable.

"They were talking about me being the first African-American to
win in Top Fuel, but out here, it's all equal, especially when the helmet goes on."

Todd's exuberance in winning was likely because of the journey it took to get there. The Junior Dragster graduate, who did a brief stint in Super Comp racing, got his first shot at fuel racing in 2000 when he licensed in a Bruce Litton Top Fuel dragster. He was quickly deemed as the future of nitro racing on the lesser IHRA series gaining praise from the drivers, including Shirley Muldowney, who presented the teenager with a set of slicks as an introductory present. 

However, after just a couple of races, the stint as driver dried up, and to remain involved in the sport, he took a job as a crewman working on Bob Gilbertson's Funny Car working under the likes of Nicky Boninfante and Tommy DeLago.

 

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Todd paid his dues as a grunt, and when the Tuttle team was given sponsorship from Skull Shine, the 24-year-old driver from Indiana was given his big break to drive the car under former Joe Amato tuner Jimmy Walsh. 

Todd made the most of the opportunity from the jump, scoring a provisional No. 1 in the first outing at the NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Ca., with a quarter-mile 4.508 elapsed time at over 321 miles per hour. Schumacher would take over the next day as Todd dropped to third. 

The modicum of success in qualifying would suffice as Todd's first-round win wouldn't come until down the road at Route 66 Raceway when he stopped Hillary Will, driving a Kalitta Motorsports dragster, in the first round. 

Todd had his best outing three races later in St.Louis, advancing into his first semifinal, ultimately falling to eventual event winner Schumacher. The win did more to boost the NHRA's confidence than anything.

"When we went to St.Louis, that's when I thought, alright, we can run with these guys," Todd said. "We had a really good car there. Tony beat us in the semis, and he went on to win the race. So that gave me confidence that we can definitely run with these guys."  

If he was to run with them, it would come at arguably the most challenging stop on the NHRA tour and the start of the grueling Western Swing of the series.

Denver started on a positive as Todd drove the Walsh-tuned dragster to the third-quickest lap in qualifying. For all of the positivity flowing from the overachieving low-budget team, Todd drew one of the toughest in the sport at the time, Cory McClenathan, as his first-round opponent. 

With ambient temperatures reaching 100 degrees and track temperature nearing 130, and long before Bandimere Speedway's climate-controlled starting line, Todd and McClenathan engaged in a pedal-fest for the ages. When the tire smoke cleared, the lesser experienced Todd came out on the winning end. Call it beginner's luck. 

"To go up there and have to pedal it, especially against Cory Mac first round, I had never been in a situation where I'm on and off the throttle like that," Todd said. "If you're on and off the throttle, the guy in the other lane is usually already away from you, so you've got to let off the throttle because you're at risk of blowing the thing up, and you're going to get yelled at by the team owner. I'm a new guy and a rookie at the time, so I'm definitely going to get yelled at. So I just didn't have any practice at all doing that."

The second round proved more of the same as Todd again came out on the winning end of a tire-smoking pedal fest with Hillary Will. The next round paired Todd against one of his most monumental challenges in Larry Dixon Jr.

 

Todd had experience with Dixon, thanks to sage advice from Walsh.

"I'll never forget Jimmy Walsh (crew chief) said, 'Hey, go find a driver and stick with that driver when you need advice. Don't go out and ask five different guys the same things because you're going to get five different answers," Todd recalled. "So back then, Dixon and (Gary) Scelzi were my two guys. And Dixon, he lived in Avon, and I lived in Avon, so we hung out away from the track, and I felt like he helped me out quite a bit, so I looked up to him. And you know, back in the early 2000s, he and Dick-O (LaHaie) couldn't be stopped."

Todd rolled into yet another tire-smoking, pedaling experience but this time with another learning experience at the conclusion. As the crew celebrated Todd's monumental first victory over Dixon, Todd's parachute never deployed on the slower-than-usual run. 

The car began bouncing near the end of the shutdown area as Todd was hard on the brakes trying to get the car stopped. Unfortunately, it ended up being too late as the car took a ride deep into the sandtrap. Todd was visibly upset when interviewed by ESPN commentator Gary Gerould. 

"That was all my fault," Todd admitted. "Back then, dragster guys only pulled one 'chute, and you could get off the track with no problem. I had my parachute lever spread out, so you just hit one. Well, it doesn't hit. Well, I should have known right away to go hit the other one. Well, I'm too scared and got my hand on the brake at that point, panicking. 

"We didn't have parachute buttons on the wheel. The thin air, the parachutes don't hit up there like they normally do, and panic just set in. You're bouncing the car off the ground and have to let off the brake to keep the car from bouncing, but you need to get on the brake. Don't know what to do, and the next thing you know, you're running in the sandtrap."

Faced with the reality he could have damaged his dragster when it bottomed out trying to stop, just making the final round call against Schumacher seemed an overwhelming task for the understaffed team facing a 75-minute turnaround. To make matters worse, they were racing against a team armed with tuning giant Alan Johnson that was anything but short on help. 

Todd wasted little time rallying the legion of smaller and eliminated larger teams who were all too happy to assist in the nitro-fueled David vs. Goliath battle. Crew members from many other nitro teams, such as Brandon Bernstein, Del Worsham's, Scott Palmer, and "Hot Rod" Fuller, came over to assist once they returned to the pits to help get the car turned around for the final round. 

"Luckily, we had the interview over the track PA, and I was like, 'Hey, you know we're a small team, and we need a lot of help right now because I don't think we can make the turnaround for the final round.'" Todd said. "Doing that was kind of like an SOS call. Get back to the pit, and there's probably five or six teams there waiting on us." 

The Tuttle team made it to the staging lanes with time to spare. With nothing to lose for the Cinderella team, Todd took on the same attitude. If they lost, no big deal, they were supposed to. If they won, however, it would be something to behold. 

Todd did his part at the green, leaving on Schumacher and holding the lead through the finish line for the most improbable of all victories.

"Tony Schumacher and Alan Johnson ruled that time in drag racing. They couldn't be beaten," Todd said. "I guess with all the chaos that was going on; I was so busy pulling the fuel tank out of the car, packing the parachutes, mixing the fuel that I didn't have to think about racing Tony Schumacher, one of the greatest drag racers of all time. I was just focused on getting this car back up there and doing whatever it took to make the run to where you go up there and hit the gas on time and go from point A to point B without smoking the tires and dropping a hole. 

"Tony dropped a hole early, and we were able to get the win. I saw that win light come on, and after that, I had both parachute levers wired together, so when I hit, it pulled two parachutes. Once the parachutes came out and I saw that win light, man, I was pumped. I could not wait to get out of the car and celebrate."

Todd then took on the role of a seasoned veteran at the exit, mocking Schumacheer's persona as "The Sarge." It might have appeared to be a heat-of-the-moment action, but years later, Todd admits the move was premeditated. If allowed to beat the seemingly unbeatable Schumacher, he would make the most of the moment, understanding there might never be another chance. 

"When I was a crew guy at (Bob) Gilbertson's, that's when Tony was wrecking everybody," Todd recalled. "I got sick of seeing it. You know he's confident, overconfident to me at times. I'm like, if I ever get the chance to drive and beat this guy, I'm saluting him because you know he's the sarge and this and that. So yeah, once that happened, I'm like, oh, here's our opportunity. 

"Over time, I learned he did not like it, and he made it known. He said, 'Hey, I don't like it, and the Army don't like it.' I'm like, well, I'm a punk kid at that time. You shouldn't have told me that because now, if I can beat you again, I'm going to keep doing it." 

It wouldn't be the last for Todd as he beat Schumacher in the Sonoma final two races later and again two years later in Dallas, snapping Schumacher's six-race and twenty-seven-round win streak and saluting him once again the process. 

Having gone from learning to pedal a dragster and beating the giant of Top Fuel in one day, Todd's feat will go down as one of the greatest stories in drag racing's history book.

Now a two-time NHRA Funny Car champion far removed from a Top Fuel dragster racer, Todd will never forget the salute heard 'round the world.