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DINWIDDIE, Va. -- It's just three races remaining on the NHRA calendar with this weekend's running of the third annual Virginia Nationals and for someone like Lucas Oil Fuel Treatment Top Fuel driver, J.R. Todd, he sees it as an opportunity to win more races, just that simple. Being a bit a late bloomer in 2008, Todd, who isn't in championship contention, still has all the drive to continue with strong performances as he did last month when he won in Dallas knocking out title-contenders, Hillary Will, Brandon Bernstein and Countdown leader , Tony Schumacher in the finals snapping his seven-race winning streak and 31-round string of victories. "The car is starting to come around, although it's a little too late," said a determined Todd. "But, hey, it's better late than never. In the last few races, the car has been running extremely well on race day. That's where we've been struggling all year long. The weather this time of year in Richmond is pretty good, so if the track can handle it, you can run some really good numbers. Hopefully, we can come out of the box on Friday and lay down a good run in our efforts to make a great start for Sunday." The renaissance of the Lucas Oil team is phenomenal, but is still in the deductive building process with the evitable growth forthcoming. "I think it's a combination of things," said Todd, who has raced seven title-contenders in his last eight rounds of the Countdown to 1 series. "With Jimmy Walsh coming on board working with Stew (John Stewart, Todd's crew chief) and Joe (Barlem, assistant crew chief) that has really turned things around. The car is definitely seeing the light at the end of the tunnel since he's joined the team. They are running ideas across each other. That and just a matter of not being in the Countdown I feel offers us a chance in trying new things with that going for broke and nothing to lose attitude now and it's paying off for us. Every time we line up against someone on race day, it's a Countdown player. We're looking at being a spoiler and at the same time gaining some information for ourselves heading into 2009." The start of the third annual Virginia Nationals begins at the Virginia Motorsports Park on Friday, October 10 with two nitro qualifying sessions starting at 2:00 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. (EDT). On Saturday, the Top Fuel dragsters will have two additional qualifying sessions at 12:30 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. The race starts promptly at 11 a.m. on Sunday, October 12. J.R. Todd, of Lawrenceburg, Ind., has six NHRA POWERade Top Fuel wins out of eight final round appearances. He claimed his first win, the 2006 Mopar Mile-High Nationals in only his eighth start defeating Tony Schumacher in the finals. He finished eighth in the 2006 NHRA Top Fuel Point standings with 1,105 points after completing his first full season on the competitive 23-race NHRA circuit. He finished eighth with 2,273 points in 2007, making the cut of the first class for the Countdown to the Championship. Todd's' quickest elapsed time is 4.473 seconds, set on Feb. 11, 2007 at Pomona Raceway. He sped to his fastest top speed of 334.24 mph on Nov. 4 in the first round of eliminations at the 2007 Auto Club Final in Pomona, Calif. He has won two Low E.T. qualifier awards -- his first on July 21 at the Seattle International Raceway recording a time 4.577 seconds and Sept. 22 on the all-concrete surface of the Texas Motorplex setting the pace with his run of 4.541 seconds. J.R. Todd's first NHRA Top Fuel event came behind the wheel of the Dexter Tuttle-owned dragster in the 2006 CarQuest Auto Parts Winternationals at the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona on February 12, 2006. He was awarded the 2006 Road to the Future award, which recognizes NHRAs top performing rookie driver. DOB: December 16, 1981. Last win: 2008 O'Reilly Fall Nationals, Dallas, Texas (9/21/08).
VIRGINIA NATIONALS TELEVISION ADVISORY
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