J.R. Todd celebrates his victory at Gainesville Raceway. (Photo: NHRA)
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — With a new NHRA season opening this past weekend at the annual Gatornationals in Gainesville, Florida, J.R. Todd and Team Kalitta arrived with great optimism, especially after Doug Kalitta (Team Kalitta Top Fuel driver) won the championship last year.
Todd entered Sunday’s race in the eighth position with a time of 3.897 seconds at 324.90 mph following three rounds of qualifying. Saturday’s fourth and final session was canceled due to rain and storms. His first-round opponent ended up being Blake Alexander, who qualified 11th. Todd won after posting a time of 4.203 at 221.92 mph over Alexander’s tire smoking 9.123 at 85.37 mph.
As Todd moved on to the quarterfinals, things got interesting for the Team Kalitta driver. He had to face former champion and team owner, Ron Capps. At the staging lanes, both drivers were ready to square off with each other. The two cars prepared to take off, but Todd accidentally double-stepped the throttle, which then saw Capps react too quickly and fire off the starting line first.
While Capps took off too soon as a reaction to Todd’s throttle mishap, Todd also had trouble leaving the start line when he lost traction. Unfortunately for Capps, he received a foul for leaving faster than Todd which gave the Kalitta driver an automatic win and entry into the semifinals. Winning this round meant that he would face the tough competitor, Bob Tasca III, who previously went 341 MPH at the PRO Superstar Shootout event in Bradenton, Florida last month.
During the semifinal match, Tasca pulled out front at the 100 feet mark, but then began losing traction. The same thing happened to Todd, who started to smoke the tires at the 300 feet mark. Both drivers pedaled their cars down the track, which turned this race into an exciting one for a split second. The relentless battle between the two Funny Car veterans resulted in Tasca’s car moving side-to-side and Todd’s car slowing. Despite Tasca having his foot on the gas, he could not catch Todd, who powered on to a round victory.
In the finals, Todd faced new Funny Car driver Austin Prock who is subbing in for Robert Hight in a John Force Racing entry. Like Tasca, Prock has also seen success by winning at Bradenton in his first Funny Car outing. He was also the No. 1 qualifier for this event as well.
Knowing that it would not be an easy race to win for either of the two drivers, Todd and Prock had to be at the top of their game to get a victory. The two drivers saw similar reaction times with Todd cutting a light of 0.057 seconds, while Prock did a light of 0.061 seconds. After leaving the finish line, it was Prock who went up in smoke and Todd who scored the victory, posting a time of 3.889 seconds at 329.10 mph.
“It’s probably the most bizarre day I’ve had in drag racing and the final round was the first clean run we’ve had all weekend,” Todd said. “We’ve been trying to double up for a while and for whatever reason, we couldn’t get it done. The stars just aligned here in Gainesville and it’s pretty awesome.
“I’m proud of my guys for digging deep and not giving up. You can’t take anyone lightly in this class and it’s so tough from top to bottom, but this sets a good tone and gives us momentum. All the greats have done well at this race and you want to put your name on that list (in Gainesville). It’s always great to win here.”
Team Kalitta’s J.R. Todd and Shawn Langdon double up with Gainesville victories. (Photo: NHRA)
Team Kalitta doubled up as winners after their other team driver, Shawn Langdon, scored the victory in the Top Fuel class. The victory was Todd’s 21st of his career and his first since winning Sonoma last summer.
Earning his first runner-up finish of his Funny Car career, Prock had round victories over John Smith, team boss John Force, and Chad Green before falling short of the victory.
Up Next: The NHRA Mission Foods Series will head out west for the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, CA later this month.
