Veteran nitro Funny Car driver J.R. Todd knows all about winning an NHRA championship.
He accomplished that feat in 2018.
Well, thanks to his performance this weekend at the Texas FallNationals in Ennis, Texas, near Dallas, Todd put himself in contention to win another title.
Todd, driving the DHL Funny Car entry for Kalitta Motorsports clocked a 3.931-second elapsed time at 331.76 mph in the finals to oust Matt Hagan’s 4.050 at 316.57 mph.
“There’s no quit in these guys, and that’s what I love about them,” Todd said to Fox reporter Amanda Busick following his win. “I felt like I was doing a good job [Sunday], and that’s what we have to do to try and beat these guys. Hagan is making it hard on us. I’m probably going to have to take him clubbing in Vegas. I know he likes to party; maybe keep him out all weekend away from the racetrack to at least give us a shot. As long as we have a shot we are going to keep digging until you tell us that we can’t.
“That’s a big win for us. I’m sure [crew chief] Dickie [Venables] is pumped after that. I’m just really proud of my guys. There’s a new sheriff in town, Ennis.”
This was Todd’s 24th career national-event win and 15th in Funny Car. He also has won nine Top Fuel Wallys, including one at the Metroplex-area track in 2008.
“It’s tough to get a win period, especially in the [six-race] Countdown, and Hagan’s been making it really hard on everybody in the category,” Todd said. “Second through sixth is a serious battle. You take him out of the equation; that’s a hell of a run there. These are hard to come by, and to do it here – I mean, Dickie, this is his home state, and, you know, running against those guys — it means a lot for him to beat those guys in the final.”
This was Todd’s second win of the season as he also captured the victory at the Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals in July in Seattle.
“I’m just proud of my guys. I mean, we’ve been up and down this year, and we’ve been in the top five during the Countdown,” Todd said. “We can’t really make up much ground, and there’s been a lot of flip-flopping from second through sixth. But we’ve got to keep executing and hopefully get some help these last two races. Either way, just going to enjoy this, and then, you know, we’re right back to work [Monday] morning. We’re going to test and get ready for the final two races, and more importantly, get ready for 2027.”
The most important fact for Todd is that with his win he moved within 119 points of leader Hagan with the two races left in the 2026 season. The final events are the Mopar NHRA Las Vegas Nationals powered by Dodge (Oct. 29-Nov. 1) and the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals (Nov. 12-15).
“Why don’t you just take a race off and give the rest of us a chance?” said Todd about what he told Hagan. “He didn’t think that was too funny. But I’m going to have to figure something out, because I don’t want to say it’s a long shot, because anything can happen in Vegas, and you’ve got points and a half in Pomona. We’ll just go to Vegas and see what shakes out there. But either way, just … we’ve got to do the best that we can with those last two races.”
On Sunday, Todd defeated Spencer Hyde, Alexis DeJoria, Ron Capps, and then Hagan. He qualified No. 5 at 3.874 seconds at 337.13 mph.
“Right at the top,” said Todd where his second 75th anniversary diamond Wally ranked for him. “I mean, I was glad to get that one in Seattle, and to back it up with a playoff win, they’re definitely awesome. I said, you know, when we won Seattle, I’ve never won a special Wally. I have a few at home, but never any special-edition ones, so it’s nice to get these and I’m really happy to get them for my guys. They bust their ass, and they don’t complain about anything. And when I screw up, like I did in St. Louis, and to get to come back and tell them that you’re sorry, this is a great way to pay them back. In my opinion, Alexis probably had the best car today, I think. So, you just got to go up there, and that’s why you race on the track and not on paper.”
Knocking off the drivers he did on Sunday was something in which Todd took great pride.
“Yeah, it’s pretty wild. I mean, just to get one of these, like, you’ve got to go through the best of the best. Even the first-round win with Spencer, I mean, we were very fortunate to get by him in the first round,” Todd said. I kept saying [car owner and tuner Jim Head] will uncork one at any time, and they did first-round, and we stumbled; didn’t run as good as we had hoped for whatever reason. And Dickie and Todd [Smith], you know, they went back and analyzed the run and what they could do better and just kept picking away at it, and here we are.”
Todd acknowledged winning Wallys in Top Fuel and Funny Car is a tall task.
“It’s tough to win, period. And, like I said, we won here in 2008 in Dallas, like, we were terrible that year,” Todd said. “I remember Tony Schumacher was winning everything. I think he won, like, seven in a row coming into here, and we beat him. They weren’t giving away cowboy hats then, so I was pissed about never getting a cowboy hat, and to finally get one now, it definitely makes up for that.
“Just reading off the list of drivers, and any time that you can add your name to the list with [Don ‘The Snake’ Prudhomme], that’s one of the coolest things in my book. And I’m sure that he’ll call tonight or tomorrow and remind me how much better that he is and was, and all that. But either way, it means a lot to me to be on that list with my heroes. I think it was him and Kenny [Bernstein] and Mike Dunn. Those are, you know, three of the baddest dudes who ever drove a Top Fuel and Funny Car.”
