Morgan Lucas Racing
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Mon, Aug. 25th 2008
INDIANAPOLIS – A resolute J.R. Todd is determined to set his sights on the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals ‘Wally’ and staying that focused has become a little clearer for the Lucas Oil Fuel Treatment driver.
Since being purged from Countdown contention after the Reading race, Todd is ready to make the best of things given that all he wants is to become more competitive and start winning extra rounds.
“I’m terribly disappointed about not making the Countdown,” said a solemn Todd. “From this point, we can concentrate on winning races, especially the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals. To win that race would justify the bad year we’ve had. Everyone out there is gunning for this race. It’s the one race you want to add on your resume is the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals. It’s the one I want to win. At the same time, I’m disappointed we didn’t make the Countdown, but hopefully we can just go out there and win as many races as possible the rest of the season”.
Now allowing more time to experiment with different engine and clutch combinations, the two-car concept is coming full circle enabling both cars to learn without sacrificing the top performance of the Lucas Oil team.
“Since we’re not allowed to do any testing outside the normal race weekend, now is a good time for us to try some stuff and go into a test mode for 2009, up to a point, without losing our motivation for winning races. Hopefully, we can work on our consistency and help Morgan (Lucas, teammate) along the way.”
The significance of the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals has a special meaning all of its own. Adding one’s name on the winner’s list has become a true who’s who in the sport of drag racing. Checking the list, names like Garlits, Muldowney, Kalitta, Prudhomme, and Bernstein, just to name a few, are legends in the sport and Todd would surely like to place his name alongside those classic drivers. It pays the biggest purse of $75,000 to win and in the modest world of drag racing, that amount of cold cash can put big smiles on the crew’s face, so there’s incentive.
“It’s our Indianapolis 500, our Daytona 500 of drag racing,” said Todd. “Besides, being the biggest drag race of the year, I’ll have plenty of family and friends there that I grew up with, so to win in front of them would be huge. I haven’t had the best success there in the past, so I’m not going to add any additional pressure on myself to win but rather just do the best that I can. We have a good car behind us and maybe our luck will turnaround. It would cap off my year. After missing the Countdown, you want to win Indy. I would take an Indy win over a championship ring right now; it’s the one I want to win.”
The start of the 54th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals begins at the O’Reilly Raceway Park on Friday, August 29 with one nitro qualifying session starting at 6:30 p.m. (EDT). On Saturday, the Top Fuel dragsters will have two additional qualifying sessions at 1:45 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Sunday's time trials start at 12:45 p.m. for the nitro classes followed by a second session at 3:40 p.m. The race starts promptly at 11 a.m. on Labor Day Monday, September 1.
J.R. TODD -- LUCAS OIL RACING DRIVER NOTES:
J.R. Todd, of Lawrenceburg, Ind., has five NHRA POWERade Top Fuel wins out of seven final round appearances. He claimed his first win, the 2006 Mopar Mile-High Nationals in only his eighth start defeating Tony Schumacher in the finals. He finished eighth in the 2006 NHRA Top Fuel Point standings with 1,105 points after completing his first full season on the competitive 23-race NHRA circuit. He finished eighth with 2,273 points in 2007, making the cut of the first class for the Countdown to the Championship.
Todd's' quickest elapsed time is 4.473 seconds, set on Feb. 11, 2007 at Pomona Raceway. He sped to his fastest top speed of 334.24 mph on Nov. 4 in the first round of eliminations at the 2007 Auto Club Final in Pomona, Calif. He has won two Low E.T. qualifier awards -- his first on July 21 at the Seattle International Raceway recording a time 4.577 seconds and Sept. 22 on the all-concrete surface of the Texas Motorplex setting the pace with his run of 4.541 seconds. J.R. Todd’s first NHRA Top Fuel event came behind the wheel of the Dexter Tuttle-owned dragster in the 2006 CarQuest Auto Parts Winternationals at the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona on February 12, 2006. He was awarded the 2006 Road to the Future award, which recognizes NHRAs top performing rookie driver. DOB: December 16, 1981.
MAC TOOLS U.S. NATIONALS
TELEVISION ADVISORY
(ALL TIMES EASTERN – ALL PROGRAMS ON ESPN2 HD)
QUALIFYING HIGHLIGHTS
Sunday, August 31
12:30 A.M. – 1:30 A.M.
11:30 A.M. – 2:00 P.M.
5:00 P.M. – 7:00 P.M.
NHRA RACE DAY
Presented by Lucas Oil Products
Sunday, August 31
11:00 A.M. - 11:30 A.M.
EARLY ROUND COVERAGE
Monday, September 1
12:00 P.M. - 2:00 P.M
FINAL ROUND COVERAGE
Monday, September 1
7:00 P.M. - 10:00 P.M.
Encore Performance
Friday, September 5
2:00 A.M. - 4:00 A.M.