{"id":14781,"date":"2015-05-06T12:11:24","date_gmt":"2015-05-06T19:11:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=14781"},"modified":"2015-05-06T12:11:24","modified_gmt":"2015-05-06T19:11:24","slug":"jr-todds-championship-ride-rests-on-his-shoulders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/jr-todds-championship-ride-rests-on-his-shoulders\/","title":{"rendered":"J.R. Todd\u2019s Championship Ride Rests on His Shoulders"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"15JRToddActionPHOTO2\"<\/p>\n

It was a big step for Kalitta Racing\u2019s Top Fuel driver, J.R. Todd, when he got the call to drive last year. Celebrating that event\u00a0in 2015, Todd took an even bigger step off the world-renowned Stratosphere in Las Vegas, dropping 1,149 feet to mark his first year with Kalitta Racing.<\/p>\n

It’s been a challenging season so far, but Todd is used to battling the odds and coming out ahead. He’s not afraid to take risks. His\u00a0Red Line Oil dragster has earned him two No. 1 qualifiers (Charlotte, Las Vegas) in 2015, but only one semi-final appearance, placing him tenth in the Mello Yello points. \u00a0So what does he have to do to reverse his recent run of\u00a0bad luck?<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the million dollar question,\u201d said a smiling Todd.\u00a0 \u201cThe luck hasn\u2019t been going our way the last couple of races.\u00a0 We definitely have a good running car.\u00a0 We struggled the first three races of the season and stayed after Gainesville and ran on Monday.\u00a0 We found out what our problem was and since then our performance of the car has picked up.\u00a0 We still need to work on our consistency, though.\u00a0 We\u2019ve been qualifying really well at the last handful of events.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Vegas, I felt that I let that one get away from us.\u00a0 I got outrun in the semi-finals by Richie Crampton, but I should have had a way better reaction time than what I did.\u00a0 If I would have had a light that I\u2019m definitely capable of cutting we would have gotten by him and onto the finals and who knows, maybe we would have won the event.\u00a0 Looking back on that the race in Houston, that was a tough matchup with (Steve) Torrence.\u00a0 I knew they would step up and they did.\u00a0 It seems like every time we run each other, it\u2019s a close race and it\u2019s a matter of just thousandths. (.0037-ten thousandths)\u00a0 We just need to get those rounds going to start going our way then I think we will be in good shape.\u201d\"15JRToddHeadShot\"<\/p>\n

Nowadays, it appears more teams are finding ways to run in the 3.70-range regularly and that level of opposition is making it more difficult than ever for this Hoosier.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the thing. The competition is so stout right now,\u201d said Todd.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s going to be tough just to make the Top 10 in the Countdown. We need to get rolling on racing, get some round wins under our belt and…build up a nice cushion going into Indy and then Charlotte.\u00a0 It would be nice to start the Countdown in the top five as opposed to tenth, where we started last year.\u00a0 You already put yourself in a hole trying to catch those guys in front of us.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure we can rebound from this first round loss (at Houston) and start clicking off some round wins.\u00a0 It would be even better to get some race wins under our belt before the Countdown starts.\u201d<\/p>\n

After witnessing Top Fuel\u00a0teammate Doug Kalitta win his first race of the season in Houston, it was even more of a pleasure seeing his team succeed against eight time champion Tony Schumacher in the finals.\u00a0 It\u2019s long been known among the nitro teams that the rivalry between the Kalitta team and Schumacher remains intact. Crew chief Jim Oberhofer even went on record to express his pleasure in beating\u00a0Schumacher in Texas.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter seeing what JimO said on TV, he had the guts to stand up for himself and for the rest of us and speak his mind,\u201d said Todd.\u00a0 \u201cSo many people go out there who don\u2019t speak their mind when you give them a chance.\u00a0 We don\u2019t have to be all buddy-buddy out there.\u00a0 That\u2019s what competition is all about with our rivalries.\u00a0 I don\u2019t play into that game much.\u00a0 I just want to beat everybody I line up against.\u201d<\/p>\n

Being that headstrong requires\u00a0a \u2018take no prisoners\u2019 attitude and rivalries or not, it\u2019s not easy to keep up with this strong determination.\u00a0 Besides, unlike other teams, Kalitta Racing celebrates with a mosh-pit style party on the starting line, so you know they\u2019re tough enough to go into the championship chase.\u00a0 After making the Top 10 last year after missing the first three races, Todd was\u00a0undefeated in any first round in the Countdown. That gave him a great launch platform, but he knew Schumacher\u2019s dominance was strong coming out of the gate.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all about winning rounds in the Countdown,\u201d said Todd.\u00a0 \u201cThere were a lot of guys going out there winning races and winning rounds and then going to the next race and losing first round.\u00a0 That\u2019s something you really can\u2019t afford to do, especially in the later races in the Countdown.\u00a0\u00a0 What hurt us last year was the Charlotte race being postponed and moving it to the Dallas race.\u00a0 It became a one lane racetrack and we lost lane choice going in the Charlotte make up and that kind of played into Tony\u2019s hands.\u00a0 He was stuck in that left lane all weekend long.\u00a0 He got back-to-back wins and that was huge start he had ahead of all of us.\u00a0 We just need to put a stop to that and race each round like we did last year.\u00a0 We just have got to stop him earlier is going to be the key.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot to mention there\u2019s a handful of other guys out there that are running just as well that are capable of winning, especially our teammate.\u00a0 Days of domination are showing that\u2019s over with six different winners now to start the season.\u00a0 That just doesn\u2019t happen.\u00a0 It\u2019s been nearly 15 years since that happened.\u00a0 It just shows how competitive the class is now and shows lots of parody.\u00a0 The cars\u2026I wouldn\u2019t say they\u2019re equal, but are still pretty evenly matched.\u00a0 It all comes down to the driver getting the job done at the starting line now.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the starting line growing\u00a0more and more important with a better reaction time, Todd has ways he can sharpen his reaction time and that skill comes from the intense\u00a0pressure the driver puts on himself mixed with his years of racing experience.\"15JRToddCARACTIONPHOTO\"<\/p>\n

\u201cI try to practice on a tree and have a setup in the lounge at the track,\u201d said Todd.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s more mental before making a run.\u00a0 I have a cockpit setup in my garage with a full-size tree.\u00a0 \u00a0That may help, but I feel it\u2019s more mental if anything.\u00a0 The best practice is getting in the car and train that way.\u00a0 There\u2019s nothing that compares to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

After finishing in the runner-up position last year in the Top Fuel points, Todd has all the best equipment, team, and race cars surrounding him with the support of a great Kalitta Racing team. Now, it\u2019s all about proving it on the track. That\u00a0championship is\u00a0foremost on everyone’s mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s definitely the goal for this season,\u201d Todd said.\u00a0 \u201cBut like I said, it\u2019s going to be extremely tough with the competition the way it is.\u00a0 We surprised a lot of people going from tenth to second in the Countdown and there\u2019s only one more spot to go and that\u2019s up to No. 1.\u00a0 We\u2019re going to have to win some races along the way but anything can happen.\u00a0 Once that Countdown comes down, you have to be in it to win it and I hope we\u2019re there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

J.R. Todd has what it takes to truly challenge the competition. After a challenging start to the season, he talks mechanics and strategy for recovering lost ground.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":14782,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3465,17,3399],"tags":[1461,511,719,767,2631,73],"class_list":["post-14781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drag-racing","category-guest-column","category-nhra","tag-2015-nhra-mello-yello-drag-racing-series","tag-doug-kalitta","tag-j-r-todd","tag-kalitta-racing","tag-tony-schuma","tag-top-fuel"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/15JRToddActionPHOTO2.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-3Qp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14781"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14781\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14799,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14781\/revisions\/14799"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}