ADEL, Ga. (May 1, 2026) – – Shawn Langdon is the fastest person in NHRA history. The Kalitta Air Careers Top Fuel driver made a 3.724-second pass at 345.00 mph in the second round of qualifying for Sunday’s inaugural NHRA Southern Nationals at South Georgia Motorsports Park.
With the second-round run, Langdon is the provisional No. 1 qualifier with two additional qualifying runs set for Saturday. Rain is in the Saturday forecast, and should the final qualifying sessions be canceled, Langdon would earn his third No. 1 qualifier in the season’s first five races.
“To see that (345 mph) pop up on the scoreboard, I think it was special for the guys. I was happy for them, especially Brian (Crew Chief Brian Husen),” Langdon said. “We were able to do that in testing and some people had different ideas on what they thought, if it was legit or not. We kind of talked about it and Brian was like, ‘Well, we’ll just do it in the season to prove it was legit’. It’s also good to be able to do that here, at this new track, in front of these new fans. I knew it was on a good run, but I was actually a little surprised because you don’t really notice the mile per hour.”
The Team Kalitta Friday highlights weren’t limited to Top Fuel. In Funny Car, DHL GR Supra driver J.R. Todd made history of his own. In the opening round of qualifying, Todd made a 3.887-second pass at 339.28 mph. It was the fastest Funny Car run of the season, the fourth fastest Funny Car run all time and the fastest of Todd’s career.
“Obviously, today was a good day and kind of continues everything we’ve done so far this year,” Todd said. “We hit the ground running in testing, and I knew we had a really good car. What I’m happy with is Dickie and Todd (Crew Chiefs Dickie Venables and Todd Smith) adjusting to the conditions. Even here, the track is good, but it’s still a bit tricky, and you see a lot of people struggling to get down. We made that good run in Q1 (first qualifying session), and the speed surprised me when I got out and saw the time slip.”
While both Langdon and Todd are provisional No. 1 qualifiers, Doug Kalitta is currently third in the Top Fuel order with a 3.762-second effort at 334.40 mph.
Photo Courtesy: NHRA
The post SHAWN LANGDON REACHES 345 MPH, RECORDS FASTEST SPEED IN NHRA HISTORY first appeared on Team Kalitta Motorsports.
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With the second-round run, Langdon is the provisional No. 1 qualifier with two additional qualifying runs set for Saturday. Rain is in the Saturday forecast, and should the final qualifying sessions be canceled, Langdon would earn his third No. 1 qualifier in the season’s first five races.
“To see that (345 mph) pop up on the scoreboard, I think it was special for the guys. I was happy for them, especially Brian (Crew Chief Brian Husen),” Langdon said. “We were able to do that in testing and some people had different ideas on what they thought, if it was legit or not. We kind of talked about it and Brian was like, ‘Well, we’ll just do it in the season to prove it was legit’. It’s also good to be able to do that here, at this new track, in front of these new fans. I knew it was on a good run, but I was actually a little surprised because you don’t really notice the mile per hour.”
The Team Kalitta Friday highlights weren’t limited to Top Fuel. In Funny Car, DHL GR Supra driver J.R. Todd made history of his own. In the opening round of qualifying, Todd made a 3.887-second pass at 339.28 mph. It was the fastest Funny Car run of the season, the fourth fastest Funny Car run all time and the fastest of Todd’s career.
“Obviously, today was a good day and kind of continues everything we’ve done so far this year,” Todd said. “We hit the ground running in testing, and I knew we had a really good car. What I’m happy with is Dickie and Todd (Crew Chiefs Dickie Venables and Todd Smith) adjusting to the conditions. Even here, the track is good, but it’s still a bit tricky, and you see a lot of people struggling to get down. We made that good run in Q1 (first qualifying session), and the speed surprised me when I got out and saw the time slip.”
While both Langdon and Todd are provisional No. 1 qualifiers, Doug Kalitta is currently third in the Top Fuel order with a 3.762-second effort at 334.40 mph.
Photo Courtesy: NHRA
The post SHAWN LANGDON REACHES 345 MPH, RECORDS FASTEST SPEED IN NHRA HISTORY first appeared on Team Kalitta Motorsports.
Continue reading...
