The fastest pass in NHRA history. The youngest professional winner in Sonoma history. The first African American winner in Funny Car history.

It is safe to say that history was made at Sonoma Raceway.

J.R. Todd capped what will go down as one of the more memorable races in NHRA history by becoming the first African American to win a race in Funny Car competition when he bested Tim Wilkerson Sunday at the 30th annual Toyota NHRA Sonoma Nationals.

Oh, and he also became the first Junior Dragster graduate to win in Funny Car, the second driver in Sonoma history to win in both nitro categories and the 16th different driver overall to win in both Top Fuel and Funny Car.

Not bad for a day’s work.

“To me, it doesn’t matter if you are black, white, purple, or a man or a woman, you go out there and race as hard as you can,” said Todd, who collected his 10th career NHRA victory on Sunday. “People don’t know what I look like when I have that helmet on. It was cool when I did it in Denver (to be the first African American to win in Top Fuel), but I was just happy to win my first Top Fuel event. And now I am happy to win my first Funny Car race. I won here last year in Top Fuel and to come back here in Funny Car and do it again is pretty special.”

Todd, who has struggled throughout the year in making the transition from Top Fuel to Funny Car, finally put the pieces together on Sunday.

After qualifying 10th, Todd raced to wins over teammate Alexis DeJoria, John Force and Jack Beckman before meeting Tim Wilkerson in the final. In the deciding round, both cars were separated by just .002 at the hit and were welded together to halftrack when Wilkerson began to smoke the tires. That stutter allowed Todd to cruise to his very first Funny Car victory with a 4.049-second pass at 323.27 mph.

“Back in the pit area, we made some changes to slow the car down after blowing the tires off (in the semifinal). The track, when it gets to a certain temperature, it is hard to get ahold of it,” Todd said. “We thought we just need to get down the track, so we backed her off pretty good. If he was going to outrun us, then he would be holding the trophy. He ended up having problems over there in the right lane and it just worked out for us.”

But Todd’s day wasn’t without drama.

After barely beating his teammate in round one, Todd faced his biggest hurdle in the semifinal round against Don Schumacher Racing’s Jack Beckman. With a trip to the finals on the line, Beckman got away cleanly and opened up a massive lead as Todd smoked the tires just after taking the green light. But as Beckman’s car passed the 660-foot mark, it went silent, leaving an opening for the driver of the DHL Toyota Camry, who got back in the throttle and blasted by Beckman to earn his ticket to the trophy round.

Todd won the round with a 5.741-second pass at 283.73 mph, powering past Beckman’s 5.920 at 118.43 mph with a speed advantage of more than 165 mph at the finish line.

“I felt like I let one get away earlier this year in Englishtown when I blew the tires off like that and didn’t get back on the gas. The guys were pretty upset after that race, so on that run, I thought I am not lifting until I see the finish line,” Todd said. “It was like bracket racing. You are sitting there at the startling line spotting somebody and you have to run them down. Thankfully we were able to catch him and get by.

“I feel like every race you win you have to have at least one lucky round. That was my lucky round.”

With the wild win against Beckman out of the way, Todd went back to work preparing for the final knowing that, while a Wally was certainly within reach, his best race of the year already marked a turning point in his season.

“To be honest with you, I was just happy we were winning rounds,” said Todd, who entered Sunday’s race having failed to make it out of the first two rounds in 13 of 14 races this season. “We have struggled so bad this season, we were definitely overdue for a win. Funny Car is just so brutal. The last two years it has become one of the most competitive classes in the sport. From top to bottom, anybody can win in any position on Sunday.

“I was pretty nervous coming into Funny Car. It is a different driving style, unlike anything I have driven before, and it took a while to get a handle on that. Now, I am beyond comfortable in the car, but we are still not performing like we should. It was trying my patience and the guys patience for a while.

“They have won races. They have won championships before. And they had a badass driver here before me in Del Worsham. I am not trying to live up to what he did, but I just didn’t want to let them down. I feel like I have given away a lot of runs this year, but they stuck with me. It is nice to be able to pay them back.”

Todd’s victory capped a wild weekend in the Funny Car category as the return to sea-level air produced a slew of jaw-dropping runs, none bigger than Robert Hight’s record-setting pole lap set Friday night. Hight obliterated the previous speed record, set earlier this year by Matt Hagan, with a stout 339.87 mph pass attached to a 3.807-second elapsed time.

As for Todd, the most rewarding part of getting his first career Funny Car win was that it came at Sonoma Raceway. Todd won at this track one year ago - his last victory in NHRA competition - in a Kalitta-backed Top Fuel machine, and to do it again at the same track, with the same team, but in a Funny Car, was pretty special.

But he did have a little bit of a good luck charm with him on race day.

“It is always special coming back here with the history we have with Eric (Medlen). We won together here in 2006 and they honor him every time we come here,” Todd said. “Last year Mimi Medlen, Eric’s mom, had a Kenny Youngblood drawing of our dragster that said, ‘win one for Eric’ that she gave to me before the final round. I had it in my firesuit that day and we won with it.

“She came by last night with this, another drawing, this time of our Funny Car. I had this with me every round today. Something is going on here. Things just lined up perfectly for us on race day. I guess when it is your day, it is just your day.”