TOP FUEL WINNER: Shawn Langdon, Kalitta Air Careers Dragster
Finals Broadcast Replay (eastern time): 11:30 p.m.-2:30 a.m. Monday, Sept. 28 on FS1
Qualifying: Shawn Langdon was the No. 3 qualifier at the NHRA Nationals at The Rock. During the first qualifying session Saturday afternoon, Langdon reached the finish line in 3.732 seconds at 334.08 mph to claim the No. 3 spot.
Eliminations: Langdon defeated Cameron Ferre, Billy Torrence and Shawn Reed to set up his fourth final round against his teammate, Doug Kalitta, and the race was predictably tight. Langdon’s 3.739-second pass at 342.73 mph gave him the win by 11 thousandths of a second. It was Langdon’s seventh win of the season, his third-straight win and the 29th of his career. Team Kalitta’s Top Fuel teams have won the last six races.
Rockingham Dragway was the last of four new racetracks on which the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series raced this season, and Langdon won all four of them. He won in Valdosta, Ga., and Budds Creek, Md., in the spring followed by Martin, Mich., last weekend and today’s race.
Today’s win was the fourth Kalitta Motorsports win at Rockingham Dragway. Connie Kalitta won the inaugural Winston Invitational in 1989. Scott Kalitta won it in 1993 and ’95.
Unofficial Point Standings: Langdon leaves Rockingham in first place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings. He leads his teammate, Doug Kalitta, by 25 points.
Langdon on Rockingham:
“These Kalitta Air guys give me so much confidence. Coming into the final, we knew we had a lot of ground to make up; Doug and AJ (Mac Tools Crew Chier Alan Johnson) and the whole Mac Tools team, have been really making a lot of good runs. They’ve set the standard; I felt like we’d been playing a little bit of catch up, but we’ve made good runs in our own lane, too. That’s why I love being a part of this Kalitta Air team. They know how to step it up and give me a good race car. I just try not to screw it up, and fortunately, we were able to get the win there. At the end of the day, regardless of who won that, it was Team Kalitta victory, and that’s all that matters.
“It’s a credit to everybody at Kalitta Air, Kalitta Motorsports – all the guys putting the car together. You cannot make those runs if the car’s not put together perfectly every time and Brian, Justin and Aaron (Crew Chiefs Brian Huson, Justin Groat, Aaron Cave) making the right calls. My main thing is, don’t screw up their hard work, and fortunately, we were able to do that four times today and get the win.
“Brian has looked up to Alan for so many years and learned so much from him, and I’ve looked up to Doug for so many years and learned so much from him. Those guys really set the standard at Kalitta Motorsports for guys like Brian and me and the whole Kalitta Air team. We have to strive for perfection to beat those guys; we have to be perfect in every possible way, and that’s kind of our motto – be perfect. Today we’re able to do that. It’s just very gratifying, in a nice way, to be able to beat Doug and AJ because they’re the best. They have the number one on their car for a reason.”
Langdon Photo Courtesy: Kalitta Motorsports
Next Race: Team Kalitta will be back in action Oct. 2-4, 2026, at the NAPA NHRA Midwest Nationals near St. Louis For additional information, please visit www.nhra.com. For additional information on Kalitta Motorsports, please visit www.teamkalitta.com.
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