2025 NHRA Gatornationals Recap: Qualified No. 3; defeated Justin Ashley, Tony Stewart and Jasmine Salinas; lost to Antron Brown.
Shawn Langdon Career Stats: 369 events, 22 wins, 29 runners-up, 414 round wins, 22 No. 1 qualifiers.
Pre-Race Notes:
Pre-Race Quotes:
“I feel good about the new season. We had a good test session down in Gainesville, so I think our entire Kalitta Air Careers team is looking forward to getting back there. The championship is obviously our goal – we’re definitely hoping to keep it at Kalitta Motorsports.
“I’m certainly not disappointed in last season’s second-place finish, but I know we have a championship-level team. Connie Kalitta (Team Owner Connie Kalitta) gives us all that we need to win, and when we have it all together as we have shown the last couple of seasons, we can be and have been the car to beat. I have very high expectations for 2026.
“We made some really strong runs during testing, but at the end of the day, it was a test session on a good track with really good conditions, so you kinda have to take that with a grain of salt. It was definitely nice to be able to make good runs like that and start the season off on the right foot.
“Making the quickest run in the history of sport in the fastest run in the history of the sport was pretty neat so hopefully, we can continue to do that throughout the year or maybe try to better it. A lot of hard work goes into the off-season in preparation for the year, and it’s just very rewarding that Brian (Crew Chief Brian Husen) and the Kalitta Air crew were able to show all their hard work and preparation in testing.
“It’s always fun to race on Saturday, and the Call Out is chance to race a little bit and a chance to make a little bit of extra cash. We have someone in mind to call out, but Doug (teammate Doug Kalitta) picks first so we have to make our call after he picks. We kinda think he will choose our person. It’s the process of elimination that you go into it; who Doug picks will dictate who we pick so we have an idea of the direction that we’re gonna go. It’s a little bit of wait and see what the weather will be, how the track looks and kind of a little bit of strategy behind it.”
The post Shawn Langdon, Kalitta Air Careers Top Fuel Dragster first appeared on Team Kalitta Motorsports.
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Shawn Langdon Career Stats: 369 events, 22 wins, 29 runners-up, 414 round wins, 22 No. 1 qualifiers.
Pre-Race Notes:
- Shawn Langdon enters the 2026 season following a runner-up finish in 2025. He won three races and finished behind only his teammate, Doug Kalitta, in the battle for the championship. It was the first one-two finish in Kalitta Motorsports history and just the second time the drivers finishing first and second raced for the same team.
- The Kalitta Air Careers team enjoyed an excellent pre-season test session with spectacular racing conditions during the PRO Warmup at Gainesville Raceway two weeks ago. On Wednesday, Feb. 19, Langdon made a 3.621-second pass – the unofficial quickest of all time. The next day, Langdon’s Kalitta Air Careers dragster reached 345.62 mph at the finish line – the unofficial fastest of all time. The Wednesday elapsed time and the Thursday speed were unofficial because neither was recorded during a national event.
- The 2026 season is Langdon’s third with Crew Chief Brian Husen. The duo finished fourth in 2024 and second in 2025.
- Langdon is the second seed for the Right Trailers NHRA Top Fuel All-Star Callout, a special event among eight drivers who accrued the most qualifying bonus points last season. After the top seed, Langdon’s teammate, Doug Kalitta, “calls out” or selects his first-round opponent, Langdon will have next pick of the eight-driver field.
- Langdon has one win (2024) in four final-round appearances at Gainesville Raceway. He also has three No. 1 qualifiers at the suburban Gainesville racetrack. In 2024, Langdon and his teammate, J.R. Todd, captured the first double-up win in Team Kalitta history when Langdon took Top Fuel and Todd won Funny car.
- Langdon owns 22-career race wins and is the 2013 NHRA Top Fuel Champion.
Pre-Race Quotes:
“I feel good about the new season. We had a good test session down in Gainesville, so I think our entire Kalitta Air Careers team is looking forward to getting back there. The championship is obviously our goal – we’re definitely hoping to keep it at Kalitta Motorsports.
“I’m certainly not disappointed in last season’s second-place finish, but I know we have a championship-level team. Connie Kalitta (Team Owner Connie Kalitta) gives us all that we need to win, and when we have it all together as we have shown the last couple of seasons, we can be and have been the car to beat. I have very high expectations for 2026.
“We made some really strong runs during testing, but at the end of the day, it was a test session on a good track with really good conditions, so you kinda have to take that with a grain of salt. It was definitely nice to be able to make good runs like that and start the season off on the right foot.
“Making the quickest run in the history of sport in the fastest run in the history of the sport was pretty neat so hopefully, we can continue to do that throughout the year or maybe try to better it. A lot of hard work goes into the off-season in preparation for the year, and it’s just very rewarding that Brian (Crew Chief Brian Husen) and the Kalitta Air crew were able to show all their hard work and preparation in testing.
“It’s always fun to race on Saturday, and the Call Out is chance to race a little bit and a chance to make a little bit of extra cash. We have someone in mind to call out, but Doug (teammate Doug Kalitta) picks first so we have to make our call after he picks. We kinda think he will choose our person. It’s the process of elimination that you go into it; who Doug picks will dictate who we pick so we have an idea of the direction that we’re gonna go. It’s a little bit of wait and see what the weather will be, how the track looks and kind of a little bit of strategy behind it.”
The post Shawn Langdon, Kalitta Air Careers Top Fuel Dragster first appeared on Team Kalitta Motorsports.
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