Veteran nitro Funny Car driver J.R. Todd wasn’t sleepless in Seattle.
On the contrary, he was doubling his pleasure Sunday.
Todd, the 2018 NHRA Funny Car Champion, joined his Top Fuel team at Kalitta Motorsports in the winner’s circle at the Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals.
Todd clocked a 3.941-second run at 334.90 mph to defeat reigning two-time world champion Austin Prock, who had a red-light start in the final round.
“This has been a long time coming,” said Todd, who won for the first time this season. “I think we turned the corner with this GR Supra, and it’s time to make some hay on these front runners. I’ve been wanting one of these [NHRA 75th anniversary trophy] all year long. This is great!
“We had a lot of issues back in the pit area that didn’t really show on the race track, and I have to give props to my guys for digging deep,” he added. “A clutch controller is probably one of the most important, if not the most important, piece on the car, and we went through three of them this weekend. That’s something you do not want to ever change, and to do that and run the way we did is a testament to [crew chiefs Dickie Venables and Todd Smith, and car chief Chris Forton] and the Yellow Fellas. They’re awesome, and I’m glad to finally get one of these diamond Wallys to pay them back for all their hard work.”
It was Todd’s first victory since June 1, 2025, in Epping, N.H., and second career victory in Seattle – he won Top Fuel in 2015.
“You never know if the next one is ever going to come. I mean, I thought for sure early this season. … Preseason testing, I’m like, ‘Man, we got a hot ride. We’re going to win some races in Gainesville.’ I screwed it up. Just a lot of things weren’t going our way, but I knew that we had the right personnel, the right parts and pieces, everything behind us to go out there and win,” Todd said. “And our dragsters have been making it look easy all season long. It’s like, ‘Man, what are we not doing right?’ But it’s not easy out here by any means. And in the back of your mind, you’re thinking long term.
“If we don’t win right now, we’re still … We were leading the points at one point just because we were consistently going to the later rounds. So, looking at the championship picture is what I focused on. But I’m going to enjoy this because we got a couple weeks off and more than anything, just glad to be taking a trophy back to Florida. And going to go back to Kalitta Air in a couple weeks and celebrate with all the folks there to allow us to come out here and do what we do for fun. This is the best way to end this Western swing.”
Todd was the No. 1 qualifier and marched through the eliminations ladder in the DHL GR Supra. He defeated Jeff Arend, Jordan Vandergriff, Matt Hagan and Prock on the way to the 23rd win of his career – 14 in Funny Car and nine in Top Fuel.
“Dickie and Todd did a really good job of racing smart today, not throwing down every run, just racing the conditions on the track,” Todd said. “I thought for sure we were in trouble there in the semis. I missed the tree, which you can’t do against Matt Hagan because they’ll make you pay for it, and then I hit the gas and the thing was just out of control, but the win light came on. In the final, I saw Austin out front, and I was like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’ I thought that I was late, and then the win light is on our side. It’s crazy, but I’m just so happy for my guys because they’ve been working their butts off.
“It’s definitely a big weight off our shoulders. I feel like we let a couple slip through the cracks there earlier in the year. Then we struggled in the summer with some clutch disc issues. Now, I think that we’re getting back to where we need to be.”
Todd moved up two spots to third place in the NHRA Funny Car point standings. He now trails points leader Ron Capps by 42 points, second-place Jack Beckman by five points, and leads fourth-place Jordan Vandergriff by 12 points with two races remaining in the regular season.
“In the final, I had no idea what was going on there, but just glad to turn on the win light and get the double-up with Dougie,” Todd said. “And just to make Connie proud. I wish he was here because it’s so hard to win these things in the double-up. We’ve only done it once with Shawn there in Gainesville. Now to do it with Doug just means a lot. I can’t thank Connie and Dougie and everybody enough for letting me be the guy who drives [the late] Scott [Kalitta’s] car. I mean, that thing is back in the winner’s circle where it belongs and hopefully, we can put it there a lot more times this season.”
The NHRA schedule resumes Aug. 21-23 at the NHRA Brainerd (Minn.) Nationals.
