J.R. Todd will readily admit he got away with one in winning the NHRA Gatornationals. But, as Todd and any drag racing veteran will attest, there's no category in drag racing's stat books for "got away with one" victories. There are just wins and losses, and in Gainesville, Todd had four round wins to clinch the victory in the season opener. 

“(The win) sets a good tone going into Pomona,” Todd said. “It’s not like these guys (on this team) lack confidence. When we were not running well, they still knew they had an opportunity to run well and win against these guys. I know I have to be on kill every time because when the car is on, I think it’s a tough combination. 

"I try to hold up my end, and I know they’re always working to give me a great car. As long as we can keep going to the semifinals, I think we can set up ourselves a run for the championship. But top-to-bottom, it’s tough in Funny Car, and you can’t take anybody lightly. It’s a matter of survival on raceday.”

This weekend's field will include more cars than the last race, with four more entries leaving less margin for error. If a driver is only as good as their last run, Todd heads into Pomona on a strong note, having run a 3.88 elapsed time to knock off No. 1 qualifier Austin Prock in the final round.

It was Todd's best run of the event. 

“We show up to win every race," Todd said. "Leaving Gainesville (Fla.) as the points leader, I don’t know when the last time I was able to say that was, but it’s a long season. You want to stay up there in the top five going into the Countdown to the Championship which is a long time from now, but hopefully we can get a few more of these along the way and let it eat those last six races of the year.”

Another positive aspect of the Gainesville success is Todd qualified to participate in the first #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge of the season. 

“After we got by (Ron) Capps in the second round (at Gainesville), we knew we were in and that’s great,” Todd said. “Thank you to Mission for putting that up there for us; it’s a nice bonus. It’s definitely a nice incentive. When we won it in Sonoma (last summer), that was a cool perk because then we won the race on Sunday. It definitely gives you a pep in your step.”

As Todd sees it, if the DHL team can get base hits intermingled with a few home runs, it will be just fine when the championship picture materializes in September. 

“As long as we can keep going to at least the semifinals like we did late in the summer last year, I think we can set ourselves up for a great season," Todd surmised.