J.R. TODD PREPARING FOR STRONG 2021 SEASON

by Bobby Bennett    Mon, 2020-11-30 16:04

 

J.R. Todd finds it hard to be upset with the way his 2020 season played out.

Todd, who won the 2018 NHRA Funny Car title, was one of those who wasn’t even sure the season was going to happen. As he sees it, anything beyond the first two events was a bonus. 

“I was glad we were able to get on track this year and get in the number of races that we did,” Todd said. “We were able to race in front of a select group of fans at some events. At the same time, you want to go out there and perform at a high level and be in contention to win a championship.

“We started off in a hole after those first two races before the pandemic. We made up some ground during the four races at Indy and then we just fell off again. We didn’t live up to our own expectations. At the end of the day I am just glad (team owner) Connie (Kalitta) was able to keep our team going and let us go race.”

Todd finished sixth in the 2020 championship point standings despite being shut out of the winner’s circle. He did score two runner-up finishes.

“I wouldn’t say I did anything different this year, but the downside of not racing definitely tested everybody,” Todd said. “You had to be patient and mentally strong during the downtime. Once we got going, it was more about knocking the rust off and getting back in the groove of things. I am hoping that once 2021 gets started we can go test once or twice before the first race in March.”

When the moment comes to race again, Todd expects his DHL Toyota to be more than prepared to race at a high level. Physically speaking, Todd expects to have the driver tuned to a high level as well.

“That is something I have already talked about with my trainers at PitFit,” Todd said. “With this much time off, there is really no excuse for me not to be in better shape when you go to that first event. My goal is to go to the gym as much as possible to work on getting better physically and mentally.”

Todd already has established firm goals for 2021.

“As a driver, I want to be the best in the class, so that means I want to work on my reaction times and getting more comfortable in the car,” Todd said. “We are going to make some changes over the off-season to help get me more comfortable.

“Our overall goal is to contend for that Camping World Funny Car championship. The Schumacher cars have won every race going back to 2019, so we need to step up. They have set the bar high, and I think we know what we need to do to chase them down. We want to work hard in testing and be a contender from the get-go.

“Since I made the switch to Funny Car, it seems like we have been slow starters early in the year, and we just need to work on that. We want to get back in the winner’s circle sooner rather than later.”

 

 

 
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