![\"J.R.](\"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Todd-action-min.jpg\")
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J.R. Todd is accustomed to succeeding where it\u2019s unexpected. With nine NHRA Top Fuel wins to his name and another four in Funny Car, Todd has proven he can drive both nitro-powered, 10,000-plus horsepower elite vehicles fast and quickly.<\/p>\n
Racing the DHL Toyota Camry for Kalitta Motorsports, with Jon Oberhofer calling the shots at the computer, Todd needed only half a season to become the first – and only – black driver to win in both categories (Antron Brown has won in both Pro Stock Motorcycle and Top Fuel). Last year at the Toyota NHRA Nationals on the Sonoma Raceway dragstrip, Todd recorded his first Funny Car win for the Yella Fellas.<\/p>\n
Racing a Funny Car is extremely different from piloting a dragster, Todd says. \u201cFunny Car is more of a challenge; it\u2019s not that dragsters are easy to drive, it\u2019s just that over time, if that\u2019s all you\u2019ve ever driven, it almost becomes second nature to you. You build up your habits or characteristics of driving and you really can\u2019t apply those to a Funny Car.\u201d<\/p>\n
Changing his characteristics took a while – Sonoma was the 15th race on the 2017 calendar, just as it is this year. \u201cI was just training myself over to drive something new,\u201d Todd said of his adaptation to the very different racecar. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of fun, but those cars will definitely humble you as a driver.\u201d<\/p>\n
What makes the Funny Car so much more difficult for someone with Todd\u2019s experience? \u201cFirst off, just the wheelbase: It\u2019s almost half the length of a dragster with the same amount of power; the engine\u2019s in front of you; you can\u2019t see as well [as in the open-cockpit dragster]; they\u2019re heavier – it\u2019s just a whole different ballgame.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Funny Car, because of all those challenges, requires more driver input. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to steer these things a lot more and that\u2019s the thing, learning when you have to steer them and when not to steer them,\u201d Todd advised. \u201cIt takes some getting used to.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the dragster, you can finesse the car on the track. Sometimes you have to get nasty with a Funny Car,\u201d Todd explained. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely harder to drive, and just when you think you\u2019ve got a handle on it, it\u2019ll throw you a curveball and make you think again. I mean, it definitely makes you question yourself, sometimes, as a driver.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"J.R.](\"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Todd-head-shot-min.jpg\")
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J.R. Todd has won more than these thirteen races in NHRA; when Eric Medlen died in 2007, a memorial race – in mini-sprint cars on dirt – was held in central California, Medlen\u2019s home area, to raise charity funds benefiting causes Medlen backed. Todd listened to the local racer with whom he\u2019d been paired and beat his contemporaries at this very different form of racing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll pretty much drive anything I can get my hands on at this point. It\u2019s nice to sample, to go out and experience different types of racing. I wish I had started when I was a lot younger and when I had opportunities that I passed up. You never want to limit yourself,\u201d he mused. \u201cDriving dirt cars and things like that give you a better feel for driving things like this Funny Car. I keep telling people that driving a Funny Car is like dirt-tracking in a straight line.\u201d<\/p>\n
There have been some driver swaps between different series over the years and, with Todd living close to Indianapolis Motor Speedway, did he ever have the urge to sample that form of motor sport? \u201cHonestly, as a kid I was always an Indy car fan, but I think those guys are nuts! You\u2019re laying down in those things, ripping around ovals at like 220 miles an hour. When they crash it\u2019s bad. I feel like I\u2019m safer in this thing – I\u2019m more at home in this thing. I\u2019d be way out of my element in an Indy car\u2026 but it would be fun to try – by myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
So a test day might be an option? \u201cI definitely wouldn\u2019t want to try one of those cars at the Speedway; it\u2019s so big and so flat. It takes some pretty big \u2018you know whats\u2019 to get around there. I would have too go somewhere small and slow,\u201d he allowed.<\/p>\n
For now, J.R. Todd is thinking about only one thing: winning with his DHL Toyota Camry at Sonoma. Again. With two Wally winner\u2019s trophies tucked away after the first 14 races in 2018\u2019s 24-contest campaign, Todd is lodged in sixth place. He\u2019d like to move up in those standings prior to NHRA\u2019s Countdown to the Championship playoffs that begin after the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals on Labor Day weekend. A second straight win in California\u2019s Wine Country cold definitely help his cause.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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