Todd captures Vegas win, FC points lead

By Anthony Caruso III | Publisher

DHL Funny Car pilot J.R. Todd got some luck from his teammate, Shawn Langdon in the first-round of the NHRA Toyota Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada. See, it was Langdon — who is also Todd’s podcast co-host with the Nomex Effect — who eliminated Robert Hight, who came into the race as the points leader.

Todd defeated Pennzoil Funny Car pilot Matt Hagan in the final round of the race. The Lawrenceburg, Indiana native went 3.921 at 318.39 mph for the win.

The Christiansburg, Virginia native went 4.087 at 263.62 mph in the losing effort.

“It is so awesome to drive a car like that when it is that consistent,” Todd said. “You don’t have to worry about if you are going to have to go out there and pedal it or things like that. You can go up there and smack the tree as hard as you can and keep that thing stuck down the groove. It is a lot of fun to drive. We still have some unfinished business in Pomona. Hopefully, we can go there and come out of it with two trophies.”

In prior events, Hagan held a 3-1 advantage over Todd. However, the Indiana native now improved to 2-0 in his career against the Virginia-based farmer.

Hagan had the starting line advantage. He then led the lead through the 330-foot mark.

However, he then lost a cylinder and inched closer to the wall. Hagan then got off of the throttle and coasted it down the track.

Todd was able to get past Hagan when he ran into those problems and got the win. This is Todd’s fifth win of the season, as he won by 0.1455 seconds, or approx. 56 feet.

It is also his 16th career win. However, this is his seventh win in Funny Car.

Todd now has a 74-point lead over Hight, who was eliminated in the first-round on Sunday. The Funny Car Championship will come down to Sunday, November 11th, 2018 in Pomona, California.