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J.R. Todd Doesn't Qualify at U.S. Nationals |
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Best Run of 4.601 Seconds Puts Him 19th
INDIANAPOLIS, Sept. 2, 2007 -- This definitely is not the way J.R. Todd wanted to begin NHRA's second round of the Countdown to the Championship -- on the outside looking in at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at O'Reilly Raceway Park. That's the unfortunate story for Todd and the SKULL Shine/Torco Racing Fuels Top Fuel dragster team.
It was, simply, an uncharacteristic showing for the them. Todd, a two-time winner in three 2007 final rounds, started the weekend fifth in points, but the dragster suffered traction problems on the hot ORP track surface. "We got behind early by not getting down the track, especially on the (Friday and Saturday) night qualifying sessions," said Todd, of Avon, Ind. "You can't afford to lose those rounds." He wasn't able to make full runs in either of Sunday's two qualifying sessions and couldn't improve on his 4.601-second elapsed time. "This is really disappointing because not only is this the start of the Countdown to Four, but it is a home race for us and we had a lot of people coming out to see us," continued Todd. "We'll go back to our shop (in Brownsburg, Ind.), regroup and get ready for our next race at Memphis (Sept. 16)." |
