This weekend’s New England Nationals in Epping, New Hampshire marks Todd Paton’s first Top Fuel event of the 2016 NHRA season. The Operations and Customer Support Manager at Racepak doesn’t get a chance to get behind the wheel of his family’s 10,000 horsepower car as often as he would like. “Between working at the shop in Orange County and traveling to events to provide on-site support, there’s been very little time to concentrate on the race team,” Paton confessed.
“I’m looking forward to this weekend, though. I really enjoy coming back to New England Dragway,” said Paton. “For years my family would come to this track in the summer. My father ran Competition Eliminator and Top Alcohol Funny Car here when we ran in Division 1, so he and my mother would take me and my brother Tony on our summer vacation to the New England area. It’s great to come back here and follow in his footsteps with our Top Fuel car.”
The Paton Racing Top Fuel Dragster made its 2016 debut at the NHRA Gatornationals with Ike Maier behind the wheel. The team turned in consistent low 3.9-second performances at 300 mph to qualify for the show and lost a narrow first-round match to Clay Millican. Prior to the event, the team did some testing at South Georgia Motorsports Park in Valdosta, GA with Todd behind the wheel.
“It felt good to make a couple of launches with the car back in March,” said Todd. “It gave us an opportunity to try out some new parts and gave me a chance to get back in the seat of our Top Fuel car after nearly 6 months away.”
Qualifying for the New England Nationals begins on Friday afternoon and concludes Saturday, and will be televised live on Fox Sports (FS1) 2:30-3:30 PM ET Saturday. Eliminations are scheduled for 11 AM Sunday morning, and Fox Sports 1 will broadcast the elimination rounds from 4:00-7:00 PM. Check your local listings for Fox Sports 1 on your cable or satellite provider.
For more information on Todd Paton please visit: www.facebook.com/toddpaton.