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Todd Goes for Two Wins at Las Vegas |
Todd Gets Shot at $100,000 Shootout Reward at Vegas
That is the end of the 2007 POWERade Series Top Fuel season J.R. Todd sees
on the horizon.
The final two races unfold in a span of 10 days and there are a few things
Todd and the SKULL Shine team want to accomplish, starting with the ACDelco
Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend. The Auto Club
Finals follow at Pomona, Calif., Nov. 1-4.
“We have had some bad luck this year and I don’t think it could get any
worse,” said the 2006 NHRA rookie of the year. “We want to turn it around and
what better place than Vegas to change your luck?”
Todd will have two chances to reach the winner’s circle this weekend. He is
one of eight drivers in the hunt for a $100,000 payday Saturday in the
special Technicoat (formerly Budweiser) Top Fuel Shootout. Drivers earned
qualifying points at each race this season and Todd finished sixth. His first-round
foe is Larry Dixon.
“This is the first time I qualified for the Shootout and I am really looking
forward to it,” he said. “I finally get to race for $100,000 in one day.
That’s pretty exciting. The car has run really well in qualifying at the
past couple of races but we just haven’t put it together on race day. We just
seem to struggle on Sunday for some reason. Hopefully we can get that worked
out this weekend.”
Other first-round Shootout pairings are Tony Schumacher vs. Cory
McClenathan, Rod Fuller vs. David Grubnic and Melanie Troxel vs. Brandon Bernstein.
“We’d like to get qualified solidly (for Sunday’s event) on Friday and go
out and have some fun and race for $100,000 Saturday,” Todd added. “All the
crew guys are excited about it because if we win it there would be pretty
healthy bonuses for all of us.”
Todd was a Countdown to Eight qualifier and still could finish as high as
fifth with two superb back-to-back performances. He is eighth with 2,164
points, 67 behind No. 5 Bob Vandergriff Jr.
“We would like to end the season on a high note for everybody the team . . .
for Evan Knoll and everyone that supports us,” said Todd. “That would give
us good motivation going into 2008.”
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Television Schedule:
Saturday, Oct. 27, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD qualifying highlights, 10
p.m.-midnight, ET
Sunday, Oct. 28, ESPN2 and ESPN2HD eliminations, 7-10 p.m., ET |
