MEDLEN'S MEMORY REMAIN STRONG IN TODD'S THOUGHTS
 |
For J.R. Todd, the noble memories of his good friend, Eric Medlen, who lost his life at Gainesville Raceway a year ago, remain strong in his thoughts.
The driver of the Torco/Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster knows when he rolls into the gates for the 39th annual ACDelco Gatornationals; it won’t be just another race.
“It’s going to be a tough and emotional weekend for us,” said a solemn Todd. “Eric was such dear friend and everyone knew he was on his way to greater things, but it was all cut short by his sudden death in testing last year. I know myself, Morgan and Brandon (Bernstein) will be raising a Brat Pack toast to him on Wednesday night as we used to go out that particular night as a group, but this time will be certainly different. It’s sad in so many ways and his loss will always be immeasurable. My heart goes out to his dad, John and we’ll all be there to support him this weekend.”
But with the race at hand, he’s doing exactly what his beloved friend would have wanted him to do and that is get in the cockpit, cinch his belts tight, and stand on it. Todd’s season has lacked the luster of his preseason testing results and he now finds his Torco/Lucas Oil ride in the No. 12 spot with 66 points in the POWERade Top Fuel points and besides winning the race for Eric Medlen, a win at the Gatornationals could be launching pad he desires.
“We’ve had some really bad luck so far in 2008 with the A-Arm breaking at Pomona, then dropped a cylinder at the start in Phoenix and that cost us,” said Todd, a five-time Top Fuel titlist. “We lost two rounds of qualifying thanks to the rain and had our backs up against the wall, but responded quite well with a 4.54 elapsed time to qualify No. 6. So, we know we have a great race car and Stew (John Stewart, crew chief) has proven that numerous times with the great way we started in the preseason. The competition level is at an all-time high and we have to be razor-sharp in every segment of preparation. We’ll rally and we still have our goal set on being in the Countdown at the end of the season. The first thing on our agenda is to win this race for Eric.”
The start of the 39th ACDelco Gatornationals begins at the Gainesville Raceway on Friday, March 14 with two nitro qualifying sessions starting at 1:00 p.m. (EDT) and 3:30 p.m. Saturday's time trials start at 1:00 p.m. for the nitro classes followed by a second session at 3:30 p.m. The race starts promptly at 11 a.m. on Sunday, March 16.
J.R. TODD -- LUCAS OIL RACING DRIVER NOTES:
J.R. Todd, of Lawrenceburg, Ind., has five 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 NHRA’s top performing rookie driver. DOB: December 16, 1981.