Top Fuel Temporarily!
Bruce Biegler - June 1, 2006

Canadian Todd Paton will be back in the cockpit of a Top Fuel car this weekend during the IHRA’s Mopar Canadian Nationals at Grand Bend Motorplex. Todd will drive the familiar Tim Hortons sponsored machine which is owned and operated by his father Barry Paton.

Todd had announced at the end of the 2005 racing season that he would be exiting the Top Fuel class to focus on his own Nitro Funny Car operation for the future. As circumstances would have it – that notion is currently on hold – but only temporarily.

“My intent was to debut a Nitro Funny Car at one of the IHRA events this season,” said Paton. “But the reality is we have not yet been able to secure the necessary financing to do that. John Hoey, who has backed our Top Fuel efforts through his chain of Tim Horton’s stores is a big fan of Top Fuel, first as a driver back in the early 1960’s, then with his involvement with Dick LaHaie, and more recently with our team. He offered us some sponsorship if we could take the Top Fuel car out again – so he we are. It actually works out well as an advance promotion for the Tim Horton’s “Camp Day” which is coming up soon.”

Over the last week or ten days the possibility did exist that Todd would have in fact raced in both Top Fuel and Nitro Funny Car at the Mopar Canadian Nationals. He had been pegged as a possible temporary driver for the new Ontario-based Spiro Kontos Camaro Funny Car which was being assembled at Barry Paton’s Paris-Ontario shop.

“We spent a lot of time getting Spiro’s car ready,” Todd revealed. “It's been nearly three years since I last made a run in a funny car, so I needed to get on the track first to make two laps in order to renew my Funny Car license and we just flat ran out of time.”

So “Plan B” was to put in motion. Smax Smith, who recently “re-emigrated” from his native England to Paris, Ontario, will take the controls of the KonRodz Funny Car this weekend. Smith, the 2003 FIA Top Fuel Champion, has run both his Top Fuel Dragster and Nitro Funny Car overseas, and turned in a runner-up finish at the FIA Main Event last weekend at Santa Pod Raceway.

Barry Paton’s Top Fuel car has undergone an extensive overall during the winter and spring, including the installation of a motor which is brand new from the core out.

“During that process we found a number of small things which when added up contributed greatly to some of the issues we had last year,” Todd added. “Our intention this weekend is to run the car safely and consistently to try to improve on our runner-up finish at this event last year.”

(Todd Paton images by Bruce Biegler; Smax Smith image by Sharkman, eurodragster.com)

Todd Paton to Appear at Food City Family Race Nights
March 21, 2006

Knoxville, Tennessee - NHRA Nitro Funny Car driver Todd Paton will join NASCAR stars Jamie McMurray and Ken Schrader and several other drivers at Food City's Family Race Night for an autograph session from 6-8 pm at the Knoxville Expo Center on March 22.

The event is the first of two Food City Family Race Nights planned leading up to this weekend's Food City 500 at the Bristol Motor Speedway. A second Food City Family Race Night is scheduled for the Meadowview Convention Center from 3-9 pm in Kingsport, Tennessee on March 23. Todd will be on hand to meet fans and sign autographs from 6-8 pm along with other drivers including Mark Martin and Kyle Petty.

The proceeds from the Knoxville event will benefit the East Tennessee Children's Hospital, while the Kingsport event will benefit the Keep Kingsport Beautiful effort.

More information on these events can be found on Food City's website at: www.foodcity.com

Todd Paton – Back to Fuel FC!
Bruce Biegler - February 12, 2006

Bristol, Tennessee - Following a 3-year stint driving Top Fuel dragsters, Canadian Todd Paton will return to the more familiar confines of a Funny Car in 2006. Paton has announced plans to run a limited schedule while venturing out as a team owner for the first time in his racing career.

Paton has been very busy during the off season, making a couple of trips to the West Coast where he acquired a brand new Plueger chassis from John Force Racing as well as a Pontiac Firebird body from Del Worsham. The new car will be outfitted with some of the best components from the Top Fuel operation.

“I’m excited about going back to Funny Car racing,” said Paton. “I was raised around funny cars, and when I turned sixteen I licensed almost immediately in my family’s alcohol funny car. My father, brother and even my mother all made runs in Funny Cars so it’s really engraved in my family. We did the Top Fuel thing so that we could stay involved in the IHRA races up in Canada but now with their announcement about re-introducing Nitro Funny Cars I will evolve back to the class.”

Todd reported that his approach to the 2006 racing season will be a calculated and conservative one.

“My wife (Lisa) and I are developing this new program from the ground up,” he revealed. “It will take awhile to put all the pieces and people in place, and we won’t run the car until we can secure the proper funding. Our plan is to run a limited schedule of events based on sponsorship. The NHRA event at Bristol, Tennessee and the two IHRA national events in Ontario are currently on our radar, along with a few match races later on in the season.”

While Todd is returning to more familiar territory inside the car, his new role as team owner is a departure for the former 2-time IHRA World Champion.

“The last couple of seasons with the Top Fuel car have been tough on all of us,” Paton remarked. “We had a couple of bright spots with the ‘fortunate’ runner-up in Grand Bend and the 4.70/314 pass in Edmonton. Unfortunately, we lost a couple of engines during the course of the season, which took quite a financial toll on a small team such as ours. We had great support from all our sponsors, but it just ended up costing too much the way we were trying to run the dragster. The fun was gone, and we decided then that we needed to make some changes, and try and relieve my father of the financial burden of owning and operating a Top Fuel team.”

That means that Canada’s quickest car is up for sale, including the team’s tractor-trailer. “Lisa and I are trying to purchase some of the spares to finish our car, but the dragster is still sitting in the shop, complete. Whoever buys it gets all the pieces that ran that 4.70, so it’ll be a great starting point.”

As for Barry, he’s looking forward to a break from the last several years of full-time touring on both the NHRA and IHRA circuits. “Dad is still going to be involved with several alcohol and nitro teams as either a co-crew chief or consultant, but I know that he’s looking forward to enjoying life a bit more away from the race track.”

Jet Tools and Lucas Oil Products will return to support Todd in his new venture. “Our sponsors enable us to continue living our dreams,” said Todd. “J.J. Hoey helped us out tremendously with our Top Fuel operation, along with the Crosbie family and the folks at Summit Racing Equipment, Eaton Electrical and Shaganappi Chevrolet. Without them, my Top Fuel career would have been considerably shorter. We’re looking forward to adding several new sponsors this year and showing them the excitement of 300 mph nitro funny cars as they come back to Canada.”