WINNING INDY WAS A CHILDHOOD DREAM FOR J.R. TODD

Tue, 2018-08-28 17:47

 

He was only 10-years old, but J.R. Todd clearly understood the impact of the moment.

Todd, then a Jr. Dragster racer was part of a group invited to perform an exhibition of the new "little league" version of drag racing at the NHRA U.S. Nationals. The impressionable kid was in the staging lanes as the legends rolled in alongside his half-scale race car.

Fast forward 26 years later, the same kid emerged as a seasoned veteran drag racer as he crossed the finish line first to capture his first career NHRA U.S. Nationals title.

"You dream as a kid that someday you’re in their shoes here racing," Todd explained. "It’s kind of like a kid playing peewee football and dreaming to go to Notre Dame or play in the NFL. You want to but you don’t think it’s ever really going to happen. To have actually have happened and doing it on the biggest stage, my home race, it’s a pretty awesome feeling."

Todd purposely stayed away from Lucas Oil Raceway Park, formerly known as Indianapolis Raceway Park in his youth, the emotions he held when he left on Labor Day 2017 came flooding right back. 

Todd was one of a handful of nitro racers testing at the track last week, but the only one fulfilling the role of defending Funny Car champion.

"When I went through the gate, it was a pretty cool feeling. I had a big smile on my face yesterday for sure," Todd admitted.

Todd also admits repeating as champion might prove to be tougher than winning the first one. 

"When it comes to pressure, I feel like I always put the most pressure on myself," Todd said. "You have a target on your back after winning something like that, but I’m not going to change the way I race. I don’t think that Jon O. and Todd and the guys have changed a thing in what they do either.

"It’s definitely going to be hard to repeat. I mean, just to win this race one time is really hard. You’ve got to have some stuff fall your way. We got a lucky break last year and capitalized on that. That’s what it takes." 

Todd became a nitro racer after earning his Top Fuel license in 1999 behind the wheel of Bruce Litton fielded dragster. He ran three races under the IHRA sanction before the car was parked. It would be six years before Todd got a second chance at fuel racing, driving a dragster for Dexter Tuttle. 

Todd's future was likely to be Top Fuel. It's where he believed his first U.S. Nationals victory would come if it came at all. 

"I never in my wildest dreams expected it to happen in a Funny Car," Todd said. "And to race against guys like Capps, and John Force, some of the legends of our sport that are still getting it done, I never would expect, especially my first year in Funny Car. If you had told me at the beginning of the year that we were going to win Indy, I would have said you were crazy."

 

 

 
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