COMMERCE, Ga. -- J.R. Todd always speaks in a matter of fact manner and going into final eliminations for Sunday’s running of the 28th annual Summit Racing Southern Nationals at Atlanta Raceway, he’s pretty much keeps things simple.

In his first round tomorrow, Todd races against fellow ‘Brat Pack’ member, Brandon Bernstein. Although, he has confidence in his own Torco/Lucas Oil Top Fuel team, he understands quite easily that he can’t take his friend lightly when it comes to racing competition. The pair has only met five previous times with Todd holding the edge 3-2, so he remains optimistic.

“Yeah, it’s not an easy matchup,” said Todd, who last raced Bernstein in the quarterfinals in Memphis last September. “That car runs extremely well in the heat and it appears Brandon’s car keep improving every run. We’re still struggling by our showing of only one run down the track so far. We’ve got to turn things around sometime, so tomorrow is as good of a time as ever to get things going our way.

Todd placed his dragster in the competitive 16-car lineup banking a time of 4.725 seconds, 299.20 mph.

ESPN2 will air NHRA Race Day presented by Lucas Oil Products on Sunday, April 27 at 11 a.m. EDT, followed by their final round coverage of the Summit Racing Southern Nationals starting at 7 p.m.