MOHNTON, Pa. — J.R. Todd took the Funny Car points lead, winning the playoff-opening Dodge NHRA Nationals on Sunday for his second straight victory.
Coming off a victory in the prestigious U.S. Nationals, Todd beat Tim Wilkerson in the final at Maple Grove Raceway with a 3.972-second run at 319.90 mph in a Toyota Camry.
Todd raced to his fourth victory of the season and sixth overall and gave Kalitta Motorsports and team owner Connie Kalitta their 10th victory.
« It’s awesome to keep the momentum going, but we’ve got a long road ahead of us, » Todd said. « These guys know how to win. A lot of them were there for the 2015 championship with Del Worsham, and we just want to keep winning. It was nice to come out with a win, and now we just have to keep it rolling.
Steve Torrence won in Top Fuel, Vincent Nobile in Pro Stock, and Hector Arana Jr. in Pro Stock Motorcycle in the first of six events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship.
Torrence maintained his points lead with his sixth victory of the year and 22nd overall. He beat Tony Schumacher with a 3.819 at 325.45.
Nobile race to his third victory of the season and 13th overall, beating Drew Skillman with a 6.586 at 210.01 in a Chevrolet Camaro. Arana earned his second victory of the season and 13th overall, topping Matt Smith with a 6.842 at 197.74 on an EBR.
http://www.espn.com/racing/nhra/story/_/id/24705813/jr-todd-races-2nd-straight-win-takes-nhra-funny-car-lead
