Todd is in a 'better mood' this season with fast, consistent Funny Car

J.R. Todd is one happy fella. In fact, the entire “Yella Fellas” crew from Kalitta Motorsports is feeling that way.

A consistent DHL Funny Car will do that to someone. Todd has not yet won an NHRA event this season but sits third in the championship standings with a race car that can get down the racetrack.

“It definitely changes your mood,” smiled Todd. “You’re in a better mood knowing that you have a car that is capable of qualifying in the top half of the field regularly, that can compete week in and week out. It just gives you more confidence as a driver. I’m not saying that I wasn’t confident before, but in the back of your mind…

“It’s not just me, even all the crew guys. They’re upbeat and happy. The whole mentality is different from what it has been in years past.”

There have been a few ebbs and flows for Todd and his team over the last few seasons. In each of the last three seasons, Todd earned a lone victory and finished 11th, eighth, and eighth in the world championship. A year ago, his round win-loss record was lopsided at 15-18.

But last year, although the results weren’t as good as expected, turned out to lay a foundation. Dickie Venables, a four-time championship crew chief, joined the organization to lead Todd’s team and couldn’t pinpoint what they were missing. The car was so finicky that Todd said you could breathe on it and it would smoke the tires.

There were changes made to help with that in the offseason, and the team is working with two brand-new cars that have a few changes Venables wanted to make from what was run in the past. Todd Smith also rejoined the organization to work alongside Vemables, and the two clicked instantly.

“I think getting his mindset with Dickie’s mindset, they have kind of an aggressive mindset when it comes to making tuneup calls,” Todd said. “That goes a long way.”

Todd has gone so far as to say he feels the same way about his race car as he did during his 2018 championship season. It reappeared during testing ahead of the season-opener in Gainesville with the success rate of getting the car down the racetrack. Of the close to 20 runs the team made, there were only about two when Todd didn’t get down the track.

“Then you’re feeling like, all right, this is something we haven’t had in a long time,” Todd said.

Todd took the blame for not winning the Gainesville event. He lost the second race in Phoenix by one hundredth of a second. In the most recent event at zMAX Dragway, the four-wide, Todd went to the final round but came up short.

The fifth race comes Sunday at South Georgia Motorsports Park. Todd is the No. 1 qualifier for the event, which is his second pole in the last three races.

All three Kalitta Motorsports drivers qualified at the front in Georgia. In addition to Todd’s No. 1 qualifier, Doug Kalitta did the same in Top Fuel while Shawn Langdon was second. Those two are also 1-2 in the Top Fuel points while Todd is third in Funny Car.

“It’s pretty awesome to see [all of Kalitta Motorsports back on the upswing],” said Todd. “I don’t think, since I’ve been here, that all three of these cars have been as competitive as they are. It seemed like when the Funny Car was running well, the dragsters were at a low point, and they made some changes that took a while to get success. Then, when they were starting to rip off wins and good runs, we were struggling.

“It just took time to get all the right pieces in place, and as a driver, it’s hard to be patient. It’s more like trust the process type of thing.”

And now the happy days are here again.