Veteran NHRA Funny Car driver J.R. Todd has been asked the question many times.
So, how do I (or how do I get my kid) on a path to one day drive in the nitro classes of the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series? How do I get to race against you someday?
Todd, a 19-time NHRA national-event winner and current driver of the DHL Toyota GR Supra for one of the sport’s legendary teams at Kalitta Motorsports, says he might be one of the last drivers to be asked to bring only a helmet and a firesuit to his first day on the job when he got the call from Connie Kalitta in 2014.
It usually takes a pile of money, as well.
“That’s the tough part about our sport,” Todd told Autoweek ahead of this weekend’s Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Norwalk, Ohio. “It’s so sponsor-driven that if you’re a young driver, it’s hard to get a seat. First off, there’s not enough seats available for all the drivers available. That’s the one issue. And if you’re not able to come with a boatload of money, that just makes it that much more tough to get that seat.
“Guys like (Kalitta teammate) Shawn Langdon and myself are lucky to where we got hired based on our ability to drive the race car. You just don’t see that anymore in our sport, which is a shame because there’s a lot of good Sportsman racers out there. Take for instance in Alcohol Funny Car and Top Alcohol Dragster where Tony Stewart is competing. I feel like that would be a good driver-development series to work them in to Top Fuel Dragster or Nitro Funny Car.
“If I were a billionaire team owner myself, that’s something that I would look at getting started—a Sportsman team to train drivers and bring them up that way. But our sport isn’t quite there yet.”
No, the NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car classes have not proven to be a stepping stone to the Top Fuel and Funny Car nitro classes.
In fact, going back 15 years, not one champion from either the top Alcohol Dragster Class—Joey Severance (5 championships during that time period), Rachel Curl, Megan Meyer (2), Chris Demke (2), Jim Whiteley (2), Duane Shields, Bill Reichert (2)—or Top Alcohol Funny Car—Doug Gordon (2), Sean Bellemeur (4), Jonnie Lindberg (2), Steve Harker, Frank Manzo (6)—have been able to parlay that success into a full-time ride in the made-for-prime-time NHRA Nitro Funny Car and Top Fuel classes.
“Yeah, it’s tough,” Todd said. “There are some, very few, that you see move from the alcohol classes to the nitro categories based on their ability to drive. But like I said, it’s tough if you don’t have that sponsorship in your back pocket or come from a wealthy family. That’s just the nature of the beast.”
Todd calls himself one of the lucky ones.
“I’m extremely lucky because all I had to do was bring my firesuit and helmet to Las Vegas in 2014 when Connie (Kalitta) called to offer me a ride at Kalitta Motorsports,” Todd said. “I’m very lucky, and I have to remind myself of that all the time. I’m one of the few lucky ones that just gets to live out my dream based on my ability to drive a race car.”
Todd points out that the NHRA isn’t all that different from the other top rungs of the racing ladders, be it NASCAR, IndyCar, IMSA, Formula 1 or your name it.
“I honestly feel like it’s that way at all the top series across the board nowadays,” he said. “You just don’t see a lot of drivers getting the ability to drive at this level because of their natural talent. They have to come with sponsorship. That’s how it is nowadays. And there’s not a lot of new sponsors coming into the sport, and that’s kind of the problem we’re facing.”
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That’s not say that there won’t be a few openings coming in the next few years in both Top Fuel or Funny Car classes. Even NHRA Funny Car legend John Force, who is 74, has to step away someday. Right?
“There’s some older veterans in all these sports that are eventually going to get out,” Todd said. “But who’s going to get their seat when they do? Most likely, someone that brings money to that seat—and not necessarily the person most deserving.”
Another path to a seat in the nitro ranks is getting a shot after spending time on a crew.
“I’m not against that, either,” Todd said. “I spent some time as a crew guy before I drove full time in NHRA, which I think gives you a better understanding of the car, as well. But, yeah, a lot of times it’s who you know and being in the right situation at the right time.”
And once a driver is in the club, so to speak, the job security is pretty good.
“For sure,” the 41-year-old Todd said. “I don’t want to leave, and I’m doing everything I can to make sure I’m not going to get kicked out of that club.
J.R. Todd celebrates a 2021 win at Gainesville.
“Some of the other series, they’re looking for the next 18-year-old kid to replace you, and that’s not exactly the case in our sport. But you do have guys that are hungry who are maybe part-time racing in the nitro classes and doing a really good job, guys like Bobby Bode and Blake Alexander. Those are guys who are capable of driving race cars. If one one of us were to get out of the seat, that’s probably the next crop that’s coming.”
So, J.R., what’s your advice to someone thinking of getting into the sport at the ground level, say Junior Dragsters, with the dream of driving against you one day in an NHRA Funny Car?
“I get asked that a lot by junior dragsters or their parents,” Todd said. “For me, as a kid, I wanted to race Top Fuel when I was 10 years old racing Junior Dragsters. Looking back on it, it’s kind of like playing Little League Baseball or pee wee football and you want to play in the NFL. Do you think it’s going to happen? Probably not.
“But for me, it was just about putting myself in the right places and at the right time and meeting the right people. When I was younger, we were able to come up with enough money to get me in a Top Fuel car, and I think that planted a seed for me and showed people that I could drive.
“So, my advice would be just get to know as many people as you can. And use social media to your benefit. Just sell yourself the best you can, market yourself. Some of these kids are pretty witty on social media—there’s no excuse for these kids not to be able to use that for their benefit and try and raise sponsorship to get to the level we’re at.”
So, you mean to tell us that it’s not about working harder on the simulator or in the gym or working on reaction time?
“I wouldn’t say (getting to know people and marketing yourself) is the way it should be,” he said. “But if you want to get there, that’s probably how you need to go about it.”
Mike Pryson covered auto racing for the Jackson (Mich.) Citizen Patriot and MLive Media Group from 1991 until joining Autoweek in 2011. He won several Michigan Associated Press and national Associated Press Sports Editors awards for auto racing coverage and was named the 2000 Michigan Auto Racing Fan Club’s Michigan Motorsports Writer of the Year. A Michigan native, Mike spent three years after college working in southwest Florida before realizing that the land of Disney and endless summer was no match for the challenge of freezing rain, potholes and long, cold winters in the Motor City.
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