2018 Toyota Wins (9)
Top Fuel (3): Doug Kalitta, Pomona; Richie Crampton, Gainesville; Antron Brown, Seattle
Funny Car (6): J.R. Todd (5), Las Vegas 4-Wide, Houston, Indianapolis, Maple Grove, Las Vegas2; Cruz Pedregon, Charlotte 4-Wide
Notes:
- J.R. Todd's win is his second in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs and his fifth of the season, giving him the series lead. He previously won this season in Reading, Indianapolis, Las Vegas and Houston. The win is the seventh Funny Car victory of his career, all coming in the last 33 races. He now has 16 career triumphs in Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Nitro competition.
- With the victory, J.R. Todd takes over the Funny Car point lead by 74 points over Robert Hight with one race remaining. He can eliminate everyone but Hight simply by qualifying at Pomona.
- J.R. Todd has now advanced to the finals in four of the five Countdown races, having previously advancing to final rounds at Dallas and Charlotte in addition to the wins in Las Vegas and Reading. The DHL Toyota driver has put together a 16-3 round win-loss record during the Countdown and is 20-3 over the last six races.
- With today's victory, J.R. Todd sweeps both 2018 Las Vegas events, winning the Four-Wide Nationals in April and today's Toyota Nationals.
- Today’s win is the sixth for a Toyota Camry Funny Car this season, the most ever by the TRD-designed Camry in one season.
Driver Quotes:
J.R. Todd, DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car:
Tell us about your day: “It really started on Friday when we didn't have a good day at all. We qualified 16th and then we were bumped from the field before we ran in Q3 on Saturday. We were really aggressive in Q3 and ran a 3.91 and ended up second. That just goes to show how hard these DHL Toyota guys work. We had some issues on Friday and they stayed late and changed the entire fuel system. We came out and made two really good runs on Saturday. Then today, we were pretty much flawless. It's so awesome to drive a car like that when it's so consistent that you don't have to worry if you have to go out and pedal it. You just go up there and smack the tree as hard as you can and get after it. It's a lot of fun to drive, but we still have some unfinished business in Pomona. Hopefully, we can go out there and win two trophies.”
What's it like racing for the DHL team? “The key is just being comfortable in the car. I'm at the point now that I just have to go out there and focus on my reaction time and drive that thing straight down the track. I know those guys are going to prepare an awesome car. We're just racing smart. They're doing an awesome job with the tune-up, picking away at it. It was pretty cool that we had Del Worsham here this weekend working with the Global team and having him around brings back all those memories from winning the championship in 2015. This was kind of a dream weekend.”
You and the team seemed to catch fire around Indy, what was the difference? “Our crew chiefs Jon Oberhofer and Todd Smith felt like they needed to get aggressive with the tune-up at Brainerd and it went 3.97 against Tommy Johnson. They learned from that and carried it into the Indy test where we made some really good runs. We knew going into Indy that we had our hot rod back and it showed when we ran well there in qualifying and on race day. We haven't let up since then. It's really about being consistent. We're racing smart, not overthinking or over doing things.”
What were you thinking when your teammate Shawn Langdon eliminated Robert Hight today? “When we saw the ladder last night, we thought it would be huge if Shawn could him out and sure enough they did it. They made a heck of a run with that 3.92. It was nice for them to do that and help us along the way. We really haven't been getting much help up to this point in the Countdown with people who were racing Robert. They're really good. It's not over yet. We still have a lot of work to do in Pomona. We just need to keep after it and not let up.”
How does it feel to sweep here in Las Vegas? “It's pretty awesome. I feel like the way we ran here in the spring gave us some good notes to fall back on. I have to give credit to the track. This facility and the way they re-did the lanes here, it's nice and smooth. I knew that coming back here in the fall that the lanes would probably be even better than they were in the spring - and they were. It's awesome to be able to sweep here. I wasn't a big fan of Four-Wides and we won there and then come in here and win the Toyota Nationals in front of the big dogs that were here this weekend, it's pretty awesome.”
Do you do anything different in preparing for the Finals in Pomona? “Honestly, if you ask me, you don't change a thing. I'm not going to change the way I drive and I don't think that Jon O. or Todd are going to change the way they are running the car, although, we did tear some things up in the final round. I'm assuming we'll be out here testing tomorrow and trying some new things. Hopefully, we can learn from that and go to Pomona. We just need to keep making consistent runs. Step one is getting qualified there in Pomona and try to put it in the top half. Then we take it one round at a time.”
Does having the point lead change your mental approach at all? “Yes and no. I was pretty bummed after St. Louis. I felt like we could have won the race there. We had a problem in the semis with a fuel leak and smoked the tires. Then we went to Dallas and got beat in the final and that was a pretty big point swing for Robert. We were 50 back going into Charlotte. We were thinking we need some help now to make up some ground and we got some. He went out in the second round, so we made up some ground there going to the finals. Then to finally cap it off here in Vegas with a win. Going to final rounds and not winning is leaving points on the table and I don't want to do that. So it was nice to get all the points we could here on Sunday and take that into Pomona. I'd much rather have a 70-point lead than an eight-point lead. Points and a half is going to make it interesting. We just need to maintain what we've been doing and go to the later rounds.”
Did you ever imagine a run like this in the Countdown in going to four final rounds in five races? “No, not at all. I said earlier this year that if we could win four Countdown races that we would have a shot at the championship. We haven't won four, but we've gone to four finals and that's what it takes along with getting some help along the way with the cars around you in points. We capitalized today on the cars around us and that's what it's all about. We just need to keep doing what we're doing.”
Richie Crampton, CRAFTSMAN Toyota Top Fuel Dragster: “Overall, it was good. This is a big race for us at the Toyota Nationals and we’ve been wanting to do well before the year is out for both CRAFTSMAN and Toyota. Going a couple rounds felt good. Connie and the team did a great job. Coming up short against the now world champion still kind of stinks, but at the end of the day, he won the championship for a reason. I’m looking forward to Pomona.”
Shawn Langdon, Global Electronic Technology Toyota Camry: "The Global Electronics Technology Toyota guys did a great job on that first run against Robert (Hight). That's what we were looking for all weekend. That was the run we were shooting for in qualifying with a 3.92, but we weren't able to get it. We just had a few little things that we needed to work through. The guys just did an excellent job. Unfortunately, we've slid out of the championship, so at this point, we just wanted to step up and help J.R. in the championship by beating Robert. Those are the moments why I love racing in the Countdown with this playoff scenario. Those are the moments when you feel your heart is going to beat through your chest."
Antron Brown, Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster: "Our car ran flawless throughout qualifying. We're really starting to make up some ground. In the first round today, we went out there and we broke the engine about 1.8 seconds into the run and that caused us to seize up the clutch and we dropped a hole before the 330' mark and that was the end of our day. Our car was set to run a 71 or 72. We had Blake by one hundredth at the tree and the car still ran quicker at 330' feet than we had all weekend and we didn't even make it that far under power. We still ran a 3.79 despite the engine being hurt. Woulda, coulda, shoulda is how racing goes. We just need to learn from it, grow from it and keep getting better.”