Top Fuel Runner Up:
Shawn Langdon, Kalitta Air 25th Anniversary Top Fuel Dragster
Finals Broadcast Replay (eastern time): 6:30-9:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 4 on FS1
Qualifying: Shawn Langdon was the No. 3 qualifier at the Dodge NHRA Nevada Nationals. His best attempt came during the second Friday qualifying session when he made a 3.715-second pass at 336.57 mph.
Eliminations: Langdon, who entered the race third in points, defeated Kelly Harper in the first round to set up a quarterfinal matchup with second-place Justin Ashley, but that first-round win was intense. Both cars smoked the tires, and the race turned into a battle of which driver could pedal his car most efficiently. Both drivers pedaled multiple times, but it was Langdon who reached the finish line first in a stunning opening round.
In the quarterfinals, Ashley was off the starting line first, but Langdon’s 3.738-second effort at 333.33 mph allowed the 2013 Top Fuel champion to drive around Ashley and get the win setting up a semifinal matchup with the points leader, his teammate Doug Kalitta.
A Kalitta win would give the 2023 champion a chance to clinch his second Top Fuel title with a race win, but Langdon and his Kalitta Air 25th Anniversary Toyota team had other ideas. Kalitta was off the starting line first, but Langdon drove around him with a 3.721-second pass at 334.24 mph to beat Kalitta’s 3.758 at 336.15 mph. Langdon’s margin of victory was .0214 seconds.
Langdon raced Brittany Force in the final round and was off the starting line first, but Force won by 17 thousandths of a second with a 3.704-second run at 337.33 mph to Langdon’s 3.727-second pass at 333.91 mph.
Unofficial Point Standings: Langdon leaves Las Vegas in second place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings. He trails the points leader, his teammate Doug Kalitta, by 144 points and leads third-place Justin Ashley by 19 points with one race remaining in the season.
Langdon on Las Vegas: “It was a great racing day. We had a good qualifying spot. We didn’t have a lot of successful qualifying runs, but we had a lot of ‘shows improvement early’ runs. The car wanted to run fast; we just had to get everything right. First round did throw us a curveball, though; we were able to have a little bit of luck and make it through that. But from then on out, we had very fast race car. From a statistical standpoint and from an avid fan standpoint, the second round against Justin (Ashley) was pretty bad ass. I was kind of in a different zone today, so it didn’t really dawn on me until after the run how big that round was, but regardless, I was just trying to do my job.
“I was a little off on the tree today for whatever reason, but it worked; the Kalitta Air Careers car saved my butt. The semifinal win over Doug is why we have a completely outside shot at the championship, but still, we’re going to Pomona with that shot. We’ll go there with the same mentality we’ve had the last couple of races: we just need to win, and we have the car to do it. It’s just a matter of everything falling into place, but the main objective is the Kalitta cars finishing one-two in points.”
Crew Chief Brian Husen on defeating Doug Kalitta in the semifinals: “You’re racing the best car in the Countdown right now, and they’ve been tough to beat. It was time for somebody to stop them from going to another final so it might as well have been us. Hopefully we can go to Pomona, finish one-two in points and have a hell of a party.”
Langdon Photo Courtesy: Kalitta Motorsports
The post Shawn Langdon is NHRA Las Vegas Runner-Up first appeared on Team Kalitta Motorsports.
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Shawn Langdon, Kalitta Air 25th Anniversary Top Fuel Dragster
Finals Broadcast Replay (eastern time): 6:30-9:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 4 on FS1
Qualifying: Shawn Langdon was the No. 3 qualifier at the Dodge NHRA Nevada Nationals. His best attempt came during the second Friday qualifying session when he made a 3.715-second pass at 336.57 mph.
Eliminations: Langdon, who entered the race third in points, defeated Kelly Harper in the first round to set up a quarterfinal matchup with second-place Justin Ashley, but that first-round win was intense. Both cars smoked the tires, and the race turned into a battle of which driver could pedal his car most efficiently. Both drivers pedaled multiple times, but it was Langdon who reached the finish line first in a stunning opening round.
In the quarterfinals, Ashley was off the starting line first, but Langdon’s 3.738-second effort at 333.33 mph allowed the 2013 Top Fuel champion to drive around Ashley and get the win setting up a semifinal matchup with the points leader, his teammate Doug Kalitta.
A Kalitta win would give the 2023 champion a chance to clinch his second Top Fuel title with a race win, but Langdon and his Kalitta Air 25th Anniversary Toyota team had other ideas. Kalitta was off the starting line first, but Langdon drove around him with a 3.721-second pass at 334.24 mph to beat Kalitta’s 3.758 at 336.15 mph. Langdon’s margin of victory was .0214 seconds.
Langdon raced Brittany Force in the final round and was off the starting line first, but Force won by 17 thousandths of a second with a 3.704-second run at 337.33 mph to Langdon’s 3.727-second pass at 333.91 mph.
Unofficial Point Standings: Langdon leaves Las Vegas in second place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings. He trails the points leader, his teammate Doug Kalitta, by 144 points and leads third-place Justin Ashley by 19 points with one race remaining in the season.
Langdon on Las Vegas: “It was a great racing day. We had a good qualifying spot. We didn’t have a lot of successful qualifying runs, but we had a lot of ‘shows improvement early’ runs. The car wanted to run fast; we just had to get everything right. First round did throw us a curveball, though; we were able to have a little bit of luck and make it through that. But from then on out, we had very fast race car. From a statistical standpoint and from an avid fan standpoint, the second round against Justin (Ashley) was pretty bad ass. I was kind of in a different zone today, so it didn’t really dawn on me until after the run how big that round was, but regardless, I was just trying to do my job.
“I was a little off on the tree today for whatever reason, but it worked; the Kalitta Air Careers car saved my butt. The semifinal win over Doug is why we have a completely outside shot at the championship, but still, we’re going to Pomona with that shot. We’ll go there with the same mentality we’ve had the last couple of races: we just need to win, and we have the car to do it. It’s just a matter of everything falling into place, but the main objective is the Kalitta cars finishing one-two in points.”
Crew Chief Brian Husen on defeating Doug Kalitta in the semifinals: “You’re racing the best car in the Countdown right now, and they’ve been tough to beat. It was time for somebody to stop them from going to another final so it might as well have been us. Hopefully we can go to Pomona, finish one-two in points and have a hell of a party.”
Langdon Photo Courtesy: Kalitta Motorsports
The post Shawn Langdon is NHRA Las Vegas Runner-Up first appeared on Team Kalitta Motorsports.
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