Once again, Todd Paton will be behind the wheel of a couple of nitro-fueled vehicles at this weekend’s Nitro Nationals at Toronto Motorsports Park in Cayuga, Ontario.
Todd will be piloting his family’s Environmental Service’s-backed Top Fuel dragster as well as Doug and Julie Cadman’s Chi-Town Hustler Nostalgia Funny Car.
“It will be great to get back into the dragster after almost a year off from driving,” said an enthusiastic Paton. “We were scheduled to run on Saturday and Sunday at the IHRA event in Grand Bend a couple of weeks ago, but the rain came and they postponed the event before we even got to warm up the car.”
Paton’s job with Racepak has prevented him from getting back into the driver’s seat as often as he would like. “Earlier this year I moved into more of an operations position at Racepak, and it’s really limited my time. Fortunately, my schedule has eased up a bit, and it will allow me to drive at a handful of events this summer.”
“I’m looking forward to going back and forth between the funny car and the dragster,” Paton admitted. “I started driving funny cars before I ever sat in the seat of a Top Fuel Dragster. Each has a specific feel and style that you have to apply. I enjoy the challenge of going from the high-gear only, 300 mph rear-engine car to a 250 mph nostalgia car with a 2500 hp engine and 2-speed transmission practically in my lap.”
Plans also call for Todd to run the dragster at the rescheduled IHRA event August 15-16, 2015.