Paton Breaks Into Top Ten With Semi-Final Finish
September 24, 2007

Milan, Michigan - Todd Paton took Canada's lone Top Fuel Dragster into the semi-finals of the Motor City Nationals this weekend, allowing the team to claim the ninth position in the IHRA's Knoll Gas Nitro standings.

The Tim Hortons-backed team looked strong throughout the weekend, posting an early shutoff run of 4.71 seconds at only 280 mph in the first qualifying session Friday evening, which was the second-quickest run of the event going into Saturday evening's "Night of Fire", when the Paton team elected to make a half-track checkout run prior to Sunday's eliminations.

Paton squared off against Kevin Jones' dragster in the first round. Both drivers left within .002 of a second of one another, but Jones soon faded back with engine problems. As Paton continued to streak downtrack, a portion of the exhaust manifold failed under the tremendous pressure of the 7000 horsepower engine, destroying the carbon fiber canard wing just behind the right hand side of the driver's compartment. One of the support rods came loose and punctured the dragster's right rear tire, sending Todd on a wild ride as he struggled to maintain control of the dragster as it came to a stop in the shutdown area on the three remaining tires.

"That's the first time I've expreienced something like that," Paton said in the shutdown area after being checked out by the on-site medical staff. "The car was on another 4.70-run and then I felt the car make a move like it was spinning the tires. I pedaled the throttle, and it pulled really hard to one side. About that time, my brother Tony came over the radio to tell me that Jones was in trouble, and to lift [off the throttle] if I needed to."

"I got off the accelerator and pulled the chutes, which helped keep the car pointed in the right direction. I'm thankful that he called off the run when he did, because it could've been much worse. As a matter of fact, John Force had a serious accident today at an NHRA race when the tire on his nitro car failed. We'll take it back to the pits and thoroughly check it out before coming back for the semi-finals."

The Paton team did an amazing job repairing the car and getting it ready for their second-round match with Scotty Cannon. Not only did they replace the exhaust header and tire, but also the complete engine and many of the cables for the data logger.

The race against Cannon pitted two former IHRA World Champions, Scotty in Pro Modified and Todd in Alcohol Funny Car, against one another. When the Christmas Tree lights flashed, Paton took an early lead (.107 to .115) and held on to about half-track, when Cannon's car started to make a hard move and passed Todd in the last few feet of the quarter-mile, running 4.72 at 316.90 mph to Paton's 4.76 at only 299.00 mph."

"It was close down there," Todd said afterwards. "I think if we hadn't had an oil line fail and have the car start spinning the tires, we might've stayed in front. We led for the better part of the track, but faded when the car started to get loose, and then the oil ignited when it hit the headers, so I'm sure it looked pretty spectacular."

"I'm so proud of our crew. They worked their tails off to get this car ready for every run, especially after that tire failure in the first round. To come back from that and run a 4.76 shaking the tires, is a testament to their abilities. Also, my Dad made great tuning calls all weekend. I'm glad he got to get some good performance from the car this weekend. It'll make the off-season fly by."

Paton Runs Career-Best Speed in Cayuga
September 10, 2007

Cayuga, Ontario - Todd Paton gave the hometown crowd something to cheer about during the Canadian Nationals presented by PartSource, as the former Paris, Ontario resident powered to a 4.75 at 317.72 mph (508.35 km/h).

"The car made a real smooth run all the way down, and pulled hard right into the lights," Paton said after the run. "We found some things in the tune-up prior to this event, and it looks like they have helped. That run was a couple of mph better than my best run in the Nitro Fish Funny Car (315.42 mph) and three better than our previous best in the Dragster (314.46 mph)."

The run placed the team 5th going into eliminations, which were delayed until Monday by rain. In that first round, Todd paired the Tim Horton's-backed dragster against low qualifier and current IHRA points leader, T.J. Zizzo.

Despite a slight holeshot, Paton came up short at the finish line, as both cars fell off their qualifying pace, as Zizzo took the win with a 4.82 to Paton's 4.91 at only 286 mph.

"It was a good drag race," Todd said afterwards. "It looks like our supercharger lost some boost, and that in turn had us down several hundred horsepower. If we had been able to replicate our qualifying performance, we certainly would've had him. However, we're still pleased with the strides we've made with this car over the last couple of events."

The team heads to Milan, Michigan for their final event of the season, the Motor City Nationals which was originally contested Aug. 24-26, but rescheduled for Sept. 21-23 for weather.

Broken Throttle Cable Ends Paton's Day Early
July 23, 2007

Grand Bend, Ontario - Todd Paton and the rest of the Tim Horton's Top Fuel team hoped to turn their home-track advantage into a win on Sunday, but the failure of a simple throttle cable cost the team in the opening round of eliminations.

Todd and the team had shown steady progress during the weekend, fighting the new surface at the Grand Bend Motorplex, like many of the other professional teams. Ultimately, the team qualified in the #7 position with a wild, tire-spinning 4.90 at 282 mph in Saturday evening's "Night of Fire" qualfying session.

In the first round, Todd squared of against Scotty Cannon in a battle of former IHRA World Champions (Scotty Cannon is a former 6-time Pro Modified champion, while Todd claimed the Alcohol Funny Car championship in 1993 and 1995).

When the lights flashed, Cannon took the starting line advantage, but Paton's machine had pulled ahead by the 60-foot timer, and continued to pull away until the motor inexplicably went silent.

"I didn't know what happened," Todd said after the run. "Everything seemed to be running fine and I didn't see Scotty, so I knew we were ahead and then it just stopped accelerating. When I got out of the car at the far end, I could see that the throttle cable had broken at the injector, which effectively shut down the motor."

"I feel bad for our team and the fans who supported us, because I really think we had the car to beat on race day. As a matter of fact, Scotty went on to take the event, so we definitely had the good side of the eliminations ladder. It's unfortunate to have a $5.00 part fail and cost you a win, but you can only check so many things before a run. I guess we've added another item to the checklist."

The team's next planned outing will be the Canadian Nationals in Cayuga, Ontario this September, although the team may add a couple of events based on the recently improved performance from the car. Stay tuned for more details.

Paton's 4.90 Bumped in Final Session
July 10, 2007

Edmonton, Alberta - The Paton Racing team came within .05-second of entering Sunday's final eliminations at the IHRA Rocky Mountain Nationals this past weekend.

The team elected to skip Friday's first qualifying session after they encountered problems with the crank-trigger ignition system. Rather than take a chance on ruining a $50,000 engine, they rebuilt the entire electrical system to ensure the problem was cured.

On Saturday's early run the team set up the car for a soft baseline run to get some data, as this would be the first pass down the 1320 for this chassis since the mandatory safety upgrades, not to mention Todd's first run since September of last year.

When the car left, it immediately broke the supercharger drive belt, silencing the engine. The crew towed the car back to the pits and discovered that the engine had broken a pushrod, shutting down the cylinder and causing the belt to snap.

The team quickly rebuilt the engine and even switched superchargers as a precaution, now that they were going into the last session with very little data and a relatively soft 5.13 bump spot.

This time, the car launched hard, and continued to charge downtrack. The car began to wander as Todd neared the finish line, and recorded a 4.90 at 282 mph, putting them in the #8 qualifying position.

Their relief was short-lived however, as the next pair of cars which featured Mike Strassburg who completely destroyed the engine in his entry while running a 4.62, placing Bobby Lagana on the bump spot with a 4.85 and bumping Todd's 4.90 from the 8-car field.

"In some ways, it's disappointing for us and the fans, but we went out there and went A to B with essentially a new car, and a lot of new crew guys," Todd said after qualifying was secured. "I'm proud of the job they did, troubleshooting the electrical and catching the small problems they did. Looking at the data, it dropped a cylinder early in the run, and a few more as I approached the finish line. I'm confident if we had managed to keep all 8 cylinders lit for the full quarter mile, it would've been quick enough to stay in the program."

The team now moves to their home track, Grand Bend Motorplex, for the IHRA Canadian Nationals on July 20-22.

Photo courtesy of Bruce Biegler, DragRaceCanada.com

Paton Racing Looking Forward to Edmonton
June 11, 2007

Paris, Ontario - The Paton Racing team has always felt at home in Western Canada. After all, Todd Paton and his parents Barry and Lynne were all born in Saskatchewan, and Barry began racing on dirt strips across the prairies in the mid-60s, before moving to the maritimes (where co-crew chief and younger brother Tony was born).

This year, the team will look forward to the Rocky Mountain Nationals not just because of the family's local roots, but they will be returning to the site where they recorded their career-best numbers in 2005. In the lone qualifying session of that event, Todd reeled off an astounding 4.702/314.46 mph run which placed the Eaton Electrical/Shaganappi Chevrolet/Dave's Diesel Repair dragster 2nd in the qualified field, missing the low qualifying position by only one-thousandth of a second.

"It was a great run. We went out with a new tune-up, a little on the conservative side, and the car responded well," Todd recalls. "We were running a special-edition graphics scheme on the car with some new sponsors, and we were pleased to have them become associated with Canada's Quickest Car. Our goal this year is to improve on our previous performance, and capture the title. As the only Top Fuel team in Canada, we feel it is our obligation to wave the Maple Leaf, and give our fans something to cheer about."

Photo courtesy of Bruce Biegler - DragRaceCanada.com

Mother Nature Cuts Test Session Short
May 21, 2007

Grand Bend , Ontario - Todd Paton and the Paton Racing team attempted to make some test runs this past weekend at the Grand Bend Motorplex, but mechanical gremlins and weather woes kept the team from making an attempt.

The team spent most of Saturday dialing in their new electronic control modules and Racepak computer, which was recently purchased from John Force Racing. It includes a digital dash which will provide both Todd and Barry with valuable information on the engine and the fuel and clutch-management systems. The new data system also allows the team to track the actual amount of ignition lead timing the engine "sees" at any given point in the run, creating an ignition map they can use to refine their tune-up.

Once the lines and wires were run, the team started the car and recorded the sensitive data during the warmup. About that time, the skies turned dark, and a light rain shower began, which ultimately brought an end to the days activities.

On Sunday morning, the team awoke to very cold temperatures and a stiff cross wind. After another warmup, the team surveyed the situation, and agreed that very little useful data would be collected even if they were able to make a run down the cold track. As it was, the sportsman-class racing had been restricted to 660' competition in light of the weather conditions.

The Paton Racing Team is now looking forward to Edmonton, and getting that data they are looking for, which will help put the 2-Time IHRA World Champion back in the Winner's Circle.

Photo courtesy of Mark Ackert - Click here to view all his images.

Paton Racing at Grand Bend Motorplex this weekend
May 16, 2007

Paris, Ontario - Todd Paton will be bringing the Tim Hortons Top Fuel Dragster out to the Grand Bend Motorplex this coming weekend. The team plans on making a series of test runs to prepare for the 3 upcoming IHRA national events to be held in Canada.

The team will run Saturday and Sunday if required. Full results of the test will be posted on the site as soon as they are available.

Todd Paton to Appear at Food City Family Race Nights
March 22, 2007

Knoxville, Tennessee - NHRA Nitro Funny Car and Top Fuel Dragster driver Todd Paton will join NASCAR stars Kyle Petty and Ward Burtonand 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 21.

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 22. 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.foodcityracing.com

Todd Paton To Be Featured on Hi-Fidelity HDTV
Paton Racing - December 19, 2006

Todd Paton and the Paton Racing team will be featured on the upcoming series "Pit Crews" on Hi-Fidelity HDTV early in 2007.

The camera crew followed the team during the Canadian Nationals at Cayuga in September. The show will provide a unique "behind the scenes" look at the sport and the team as it captures a typical race weekend as seen by the crew.

As soon as the play dates have been confirmed, we will post them here on ToddPaton.com

First Round Deja Vu!
Paton Racing - September 27, 2006

Todd Paton and the Paton Racing team returned to Cayuga for the rain-delayed Canadian Nationals with their new Top Fuel Dragster, and were pleased with how well it worked in qualifying.

During Friday's session, the Tim Hortons car launched hard and carried the wheels well past the 330' mark. As it settled, Todd pedaled the throttle to keep it off the centerline, and powered through for a strong 4.98, 294 mph run which ultimately placed the team fifth in the qualified field.

The team faced Doug Foley in Sunday's first round. Once again, ignition demons plagued the team, as the car turned over, but refused to light. As the crew frantically switched wires to the ignition coils, raindrops began falling on the racing surface, forcing Foley to shut off as he backed up from his burnout.

After a 5 minute rain delay, the teams were once again given the signal to start. Then, suddenly, the official indicated that Todd's car was disqualified for not starting as the rain initially fell. The dejected team was forced to tow the car back to the pits as Todd got out to speak with the IHRA officials, and went on to watch Foley idle down the track for the uncontested win.

"It's an unfortunate set of circumstances," Todd said after a walk back to the pits to settle his mind. "Once again, the car started fine in the pits, and we towed it to the starting line, and it wouldn't light, like Epping. We bypassed the ignition controller just as the rain started to fall. We saw the officials shut off Doug as he was backing up, so we decided not to bother starting ours. That was probably where we went wrong. At any rate, the IHRA official saw fit to disqualify us and allow their current points leader an easy round win. I think it's wrong, as do a lot of our fans and fellow competitors, but you can't argue with the officials - it's their race, and they can adjust the rules as they see fit. We've sent everything to MSD, and I expect to have this problem resolved once and for all. Mark my words - this will not happen again!"

New Car Passes Test With Flying Colors!
Paton Racing - September 12, 2006

Todd Paton and the Paton Racing team put their new car through its paces at the recent Amalie Oil North American Nationals in Epping, NH.

After finishing the car literally minutes before taking it to the starting line, Todd and the rest of the team saw their efforts instantly rewarded, as the new car ran straight and true to an early shutoff 4.96 at only 241 mph.

"I had originally planned to shut the car off at about half-track," Todd later admitted, "but it felt so good, I ran it to the 1000' mark. The computer shows I had the throttle down for 4.13 seconds, and the car cleared the 1000' clocks in 4.11 seconds. It probably would've run a mid to low .80, but we're thrilled to be the #1 qualifier with this new car."

Saturday's run was nearly a carbon copy, with another early shutoff run of 4.95, 241 mph, which ended up fourth overall in the qualified field. A post-run inspection revealed significant engine damage, forcing the team to change engines.

Prior to Sunday's first round match with Bobby Lagana Jr., the team attempted to fire the new engine, but the car wouldn't respond. The crew members hurried to diagnose and repair the problem. Unfortunately, the team was unable to get their ignition woes resolved in time, giving Bobby Lagana a "single".

"What an unfortunate way to lose. It appears that when the motor got changed, there were some issues with the ignition system that didn't reveal themselves until we went to do the usual warm-up just prior to the run. The team did a great job, but we just ran out of time. I feel bad for the guys, but they did all they could. We'll address the situation and be ready for Cayuga next week."

Top Fuel Take Two!
Paton Racing - September 7, 2006

Canadian Todd Paton will be back in the cockpit of a Top Fuel car this weekend during the IHRA’s Amalie Oil Nationals in Epping, NH. However, instead of driving the familiar Tim Hortons sponsored machine his father Barry Paton has owned and operated since 2003, Todd will be driving a newer McKinney chassis which Rhonda Hartman ran at the O'Reilly Thunder Valley Nationals this spring.

"A few days after the Cayuga rainout, Virgil Hartman contacted my Dad about the car," said Todd, a two-time world champion in IHRA's Alcohol Funny Car division. "Barry had shown interest in it earlier in the year, and an opportunity to sell our old car happened almost simultaneously. As a result, the car that was ready to start just a few weeks ago, has been totally disassembled, sold off, and replaced with a much newer and sleeker piece."

The team has been putting in long hours getting the new car ready for its debut this weekend at the Amalie Oil Nationals, which the team is approaching as a 'test session' of sorts, prior to returning to Cayuga for the rain-delayed Canadian Nationals.

When asked about the sudden decision to run the Epping event, Todd's father Barry responded, "We didn't want to return to Cayuga without making some test runs, so the event in Epping should give us several opportunities to figure out some of the differences between our old chassis and the new one. This car features some updated chassis technology and also features a slightly different motor placement, which we hope will allow us to harness the 7000-plus horsepower these cars can produce."

With his funny car project temporarily on hold, Todd is looking forward to making a few 300 mph laps down the quarter-mile. "Unfortunately, some of the sponsors for the funny car got 'cold feet' for this year, which prevented the car from running the events we had planned. It's sitting in my garage, ready to go, but until we sign a major sponsor, it will stay there. This will be a good opportunity for me to get back behind the wheel, and get me fired up again, so I'll be wound up when we talk to our partners about next year's program."

Up-to-the-minute coverage of the Amalie Oil Nationals will be provided by IHRA.com and DragRaceCentral.com. Television coverage of the event will be featured on Speed Channel, Saturday, September 30th at 4 pm EST, with a repeat broadcast on Monday, October 2 at 5 pm EST.

Photo by: Bruce Biegler, DragRaceCanada.com