NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series
In-N-Out Raceway
Race 3 of 21
During the second round of qualifying at the In-N-Out Raceway on Saturday afternoon, the Kalitta Motorsports DHL GR Supra was involved in an on-track incident after crossing the finish line. Driver J.R. Todd was okay following the accident as well as driver John Force who was the that crossed the center line ultimately making contact with Todd. Below are quotes from Todd after the incident. Of note, the team had to go to a backup chassis and body for the remainder of the race weekend.
TOYOTA QUOTES
J.R. TODD, DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car, Kalitta Motorsports
What happened in the incident with John Force in the second round of qualifying?
“Honestly, I still don’t know. I haven’t seen the video, but just normal run. I was trucking down through there pretty good, get the chutes out before the finish line like normal – like you’re pretty much taught as a young driver and that time I feel like I paid the price for doing it. At first I thought maybe he just got into my chutes of something, but next thing I know I see him on my left side and we’re in the left lane. You’re not supposed to be there. After that, just sort of hanging on and steering away from him, steering away from the wall and trying to get on the brake to get the thing stopped. But when the chutes are tangled up like that, you’re just along for the ride. It’s really unfortunate because it was a brand new car for us, beautiful car and worked really well. There’s nothing long with our car that we pulled out for Q3, but just new body and new car. I hate creating extra work for the guys, especially something silly like that.”
What is the feeling in the cockpit when something like this happens?
“It’s a helpless feeling. You’re not really in control at that point when the other guy is wrapped in your chutes or his chutes are wrapped around your car. I haven’t seen any video so I can’t really tell you exactly what happened. I just know he was dragging us along for the ride. It sucks. I don’t like tearing up stuff especially when it’s out of my control.”
Is there anything that could be done differently to avoid this from happening in the future?
“If I had a rearview mirror, I would have swerved to have gotten away from him. I don’t know. I can’t critique what he did or didn’t do because I haven’t seen the run. We made a nice, solid 393 run and got the chutes out and the next thing I’m getting run over.”
What do you need to do with a new car and body to get ready for Sunday?
“Now we need to shake this car down and I’m sure it will be just fine. It’s the car we finished the season with last year and it ran really well. Hopefully we can go rip off a good run in Q3 and get ready for Sunday.”