YPSILANTI, Mich. (Aug. 26, 2025) – Top Fuel points leader Shawn Langdon and his Applied Innovation/Kalitta Air Careers team enter the U.S. Nationals with one aspiration: Win the race, and the rest will take care of itself. The 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series completes its regular season Aug. 29-Sept. 1 at the Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis.
The 2025 season has been good to the Applied Innovation/Kalitta Air Careers team with three wins in five final-round appearances. Langdon enters the final race of the regular season with a 45-point lead over second-place Tony Stewart and a 51-point lead over his teammate, third-place Doug Kalitta, who won the last two races. The U.S. Nationals, however, pays “points and a half” so a round win is worth 30 points instead of 20 putting the top three within two rounds of racing. That puts Stewart and Kalitta in position to swipe the regular-season title and its $150,000 payout should the opportunity present itself.
“The goal is to be first in points so we we’re just trying to hopefully have a good weekend,” Langdon said. “The car’s been good all season. It’s been running well these last few races so hopefully, we can maintain our lead; that’s the plan. I try to treat every race the same and have the same mentality, but every one’s a little bit different.”
The U.S. Nationals is definitely a “little bit different.” It’s the sport’s most prestigious race with a $100,000 race win payout, and should Langdon be fortunate enough to win his third U.S. Nationals title this weekend, he’d take longtime Team Kalitta partner Applied Innovation along for the ride. Applied, DHL and Team Kalitta are all hoping to “win with a purpose” this weekend as the 2025 Race to End Hunger begins.
Kalitta Motorsports, DHL Express, Kalitta Air and eight additional partners, including Applied Innovation, are partnering in the Race to End Hunger benefitting Feeding America, the largest hunger-relief organization in the United States. Every Team Kalitta race-day win light in the next six races will generate 40,000 meals in the fight against food insecurity. Langdon and his team know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, if the team wins the U.S. Nationals, everything else will fall into place.
“If we win the race, it doesn’t matter what anybody else does. When we were testing in Brainerd, and it rained all day, Brian (Crew Chief Brian Husen) and I had a conversation. We looked at everything and came to the same conclusion: if we win the race; it doesn’t matter. If we win the race, that gets us the $100,000, and that gets us the $150,000 for the regular season championship. Rather than sit there and worry about where this guy qualifies or how many points for this or that, it’s points and a half, who had oil downs, and who did what, we just go win the race, and the rest takes care of itself.”
Race Information:
Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park; Indianapolis
TV Schedule (All times eastern):
2024 Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals Recap: Qualified No. 16; lost to Brittany Force.
Shawn Langdon Career Stats: 363 events, 22 wins, 28 runner-up, 405 round wins, 21 No. 1 qualifiers.
2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Results to Date (Wins in Italics):
Langdon Image Courtesy: Kalitta Motorsports
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The 2025 season has been good to the Applied Innovation/Kalitta Air Careers team with three wins in five final-round appearances. Langdon enters the final race of the regular season with a 45-point lead over second-place Tony Stewart and a 51-point lead over his teammate, third-place Doug Kalitta, who won the last two races. The U.S. Nationals, however, pays “points and a half” so a round win is worth 30 points instead of 20 putting the top three within two rounds of racing. That puts Stewart and Kalitta in position to swipe the regular-season title and its $150,000 payout should the opportunity present itself.
“The goal is to be first in points so we we’re just trying to hopefully have a good weekend,” Langdon said. “The car’s been good all season. It’s been running well these last few races so hopefully, we can maintain our lead; that’s the plan. I try to treat every race the same and have the same mentality, but every one’s a little bit different.”
The U.S. Nationals is definitely a “little bit different.” It’s the sport’s most prestigious race with a $100,000 race win payout, and should Langdon be fortunate enough to win his third U.S. Nationals title this weekend, he’d take longtime Team Kalitta partner Applied Innovation along for the ride. Applied, DHL and Team Kalitta are all hoping to “win with a purpose” this weekend as the 2025 Race to End Hunger begins.
Kalitta Motorsports, DHL Express, Kalitta Air and eight additional partners, including Applied Innovation, are partnering in the Race to End Hunger benefitting Feeding America, the largest hunger-relief organization in the United States. Every Team Kalitta race-day win light in the next six races will generate 40,000 meals in the fight against food insecurity. Langdon and his team know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, if the team wins the U.S. Nationals, everything else will fall into place.
“If we win the race, it doesn’t matter what anybody else does. When we were testing in Brainerd, and it rained all day, Brian (Crew Chief Brian Husen) and I had a conversation. We looked at everything and came to the same conclusion: if we win the race; it doesn’t matter. If we win the race, that gets us the $100,000, and that gets us the $150,000 for the regular season championship. Rather than sit there and worry about where this guy qualifies or how many points for this or that, it’s points and a half, who had oil downs, and who did what, we just go win the race, and the rest takes care of itself.”
Race Information:
Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park; Indianapolis
TV Schedule (All times eastern):
- Qualifying Show 1: 9:30-11:30 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 31 on FS1
- Play NHRA All-Star Funny Car Callout: 5-6:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 31 on FS1
- Qualifying Show 2: 7-8 p.m. 6:30-8:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 31 on FS1
- Finals Round 1: Noon-2 p.m. Monday, Sept. 1 on FS1
- Finals: 2-5 p.m. Monday, Sept. 1 on FOX
2024 Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals Recap: Qualified No. 16; lost to Brittany Force.
Shawn Langdon Career Stats: 363 events, 22 wins, 28 runner-up, 405 round wins, 21 No. 1 qualifiers.
2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Results to Date (Wins in Italics):
- Gainesville: Qualified No. 11; defeated Justin Ashley, Tony Stewart and Jasmine Salinas; lost to Antron Brown.
- Phoenix: Qualified No. 3; defeated Scott Palmer, Justin Ashley, Brittany Force and Doug Kalitta.
- Pomona: Qualified No. 3; defeated Ida Zetterstrom and Josh Hart; lost to Tony Stewart.
- Las Vegas: Qualified No. 11: lost to Antron Brown, Mike Salinas.
- Charlotte: Qualified No. 2; defeated Ida Zetterstrom and Scott Farley, Brittany Force and Josh Hart, Justin Ashley, Tony Stewart and Antron Brown.
- Chicago: Qualified No. 3; defeated Kyle Wurtzel, lost to Steve Torrence.
- Epping: Qualified No. 6; lost to Dan Mercier.
- Bristol: Qualified No. 3; defeated Cody Krohn and Josh Hart; lost to Justin Ashley.
- Richmond: Qualified No. 5; defeated Cameron Ferre, Dan Mercier and Tony Stewart; lost to Justin Ashley.
- Norwalk: Qualified No. 5; defeated Doug Foley and Brittany Force; Lost to Justin Ashley.
- Seattle: Qualified No. 2; defeated Cameron Ferre, Tony Stewart, Bye, Brittany Force.
- Sonoma: Qualified No. 10; defeated Brittany Force, Bye; lost to Antron Brown.
- Brainerd: Qualified No. 8; defeated Antron Brown; lost to Brittany Force.
Langdon Image Courtesy: Kalitta Motorsports
The post SHAWN LANGDON: WIN U.S. NATIONALS; THE REST WILL TAKE CARE OF ITSELF first appeared on Team Kalitta Motorsports.
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