Tag Archives: J.R. Todd

It’s the biggest weekend of the year coming up for the NHRA, the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals, and there are a number of storylines to follow. First, this weekend is the final race of the regular season. After the U.S. Nationals, the Countdown fields for the four professional classes will …

Chicago got its origins as a hub between the East and the West back in the 1800s, and for the NHRA, at least, it’s still serving the same purpose. It’s the site of this weekend’s K&N Filters Route 66 NHRA Nationals, the final stop before the famed Western Swing. That …

When this column was devised, video was definitely something that was tagged to play a role. The argument has been made many times that drag racing is such a visual sport and to that end, we would try to include video in some form every week. That could be clips …

Sprint Cup: A Monster Show at Dover Honestly, it’s been a while since there’s been a stimulating race at Dover International Speedway. In making it one of the best races seen on the 1-mile concrete oval, Sunday’s AAA 400 Drive For Autism, however, saw frantic restarts, fabulous usage of the …

The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series’ Countdown to One begins this weekend at zMax Dragway with the Carolina Nationals. Our own Toni Montgomery is on-site with an update on Friday’s activities. JR Todd and Kalitta Motorsports unveiled the Jimi Hendrix Foundation Purple Haze dragster (pictured above); the team will …

The Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals marked the end of the “regular season” while the upcoming Carolina Nationals kick off the start of the “playoffs,” if you want to look at it in stick-and-ball terms. This is a topic that always inspires debate. Many purists find formats like the Countdown to be …

Sprint Cup Series: Oh, What Might Have Been… Watkins Glen is sold every year as the last regular season “wild card” race, the last place an underdog can work his way into the Chase under the right circumstances. There were high hopes entering the weekend for defending winner AJ Allmendinger, …

Back in the first column of the season, after some disappointing starts to the year for a handful of drivers, we declared that one bad race does not a bad season make. That’s true. One of the drivers who got out of the blocks slow was Jack Beckman, and it’s …

It’s been mentioned in this space before that television just does not accurately convey what it’s like to be at an NHRA event. No matter how high you turn the volume up, even with surround sound, it’s still not like hearing those 10,000 horsepower beasts in person. It’s more than …

Last week in part one of our Junior Dragster special, the viability of the series as a starting point for young hopefuls looking to get to the big leagues was the topic of conversation. Some of the young drivers competing right now are following in the footsteps of their famous …