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Post-Race Report
NHRA New England Nationals
Race 8 of 22 national events
New England Dragway
Epping, NH
June 5, 2022
Semifinal Finish for Shawn Langdon at New England Nationals
Shawn Langdon powered the DHL Toyota Top Fuel dragster to a semifinal finish today at the New England Nationals. The strong day on the track moved the 2013 NHRA Top Fuel champion up in the point standings and gave his DHL Toyota team some momentum heading to the Thunder Valley Nationals in two weeks. Through two days pf qualifying Langdon made steady progress with his third qualifying run of 3.783 seconds slotting him in the No. 12 spot going into eliminations.In a big first round win over second year driver Josh Hart Langdon made his quickest run of the weekend, a strong 3.762 second pass at 327.74 mph. Langdon was first off the line and kept it right in the middle of the groove the whole way down track. The win set up a Kalitta Motorsports head-to-head match-up with teammate Doug Kalitta.
Once again Langdon got the jump off the starting line and never trailed in the race advancing to the semifinals with a winning elapsed times of 3.734 seconds at 330.96 mph. It was another quick time for Langdon and the DHL Toyota team and continued to show improvement throughout the weekend.
Matching up with Justin Ashley in the semifinals Langdon continued his starting line dominance with a strong .058 reaction time that gave him a sizeable starting line jump. Langdon was on his way to another round win when his blower belt shredded as he stormed towards the finish line opening the door for his opponent to slide around him. The margin of victory was less than two feet at over 300 mph. The loss of the blower belt robbed Langdon of the horsepower needed to hold off Ashley.
“I felt like today was our day,” said Langdon. “We got two great wins in the first and second rounds and in that semifinal we were a few feet from a final round. I can’t say enough about these DHL guys. We are working hard every race and we saw some good results this weekend.”
Langdon will leave New England Dragway sitting No. 9 in the Top Fuel point standings.
J.R. Todd Races to Semifinals at New England Dragway
In a true testament to teamwork and hardnose racing J.R. Todd and the DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car team battled for three days to race to a semifinal finish at the New England Nationals today in Epping, New Hampshire. Throughout qualifying Todd and his DHL team battled a tricky track and rolled into race day as the No. 10 qualifier. Their best run of qualifying was a pedestrian 4.288 second pass which the team knew they could improve on in race day.In the first round facing No. 5 qualifier Blake Alexander Todd knew he would need to be at the top of his game. Both Funny Cars left together and Todd kept it hooked well past half-track as his opponent lost traction early. It was not a picture-perfect run, but it was enough for the 2018 Funny Car champion to get a win light and advance to the second round. His winning time of 4.118 seconds did not give him lane choice, but it was his quickest run of the weekend.
In the quarterfinals racing veteran and former world champion Cruz Pedregon Todd’s 11,000 horsepower DHL Toyota Supra continued to step up. Todd was able to outrun the No. 4 qualifier with a 4.019 second pass at 318.24 mph and advance to the semifinals. Todd was in control of the race the entire length of the track with Todd keeping his race car glued to the centerline groove.
Unfortunately, even though Todd and his DHL Toyota team made another huge performance jump it was not enough to get around the No. 1 qualifier and advance to the final round of the New England Nationals. Todd was first off the starting line with a strong .054 reaction time advantage but as the finish line closed in Todd’s opponent was able to just get a nose out in front for the win.
“Bummed the win light didn’t come on, but from the way we started the weekend to now, that’s a win in itself,” said Todd, after the semifinal finish. “Probably one run short of where we needed to be, but proud of these guys on this DHL GR Supra team – proud of all of their hard work. They overcame a lot of struggles this weekend and we picked up some points today. I just want to win one of these bad.”
The final four finish held Todd solidly in the Funny Car Top Ten in the No. 6 spot after eight national events. The Thunder Valley Nationals in two weeks will be the next chance for Todd and the DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car to race to the winner’s circle.
Doug Kalitta Takes Mac Tools TF to Quarterfinals in Epping
The Mac Tools Toyota Top Fuel team and Doug Kalitta made the most out of their time at the NHRA New England Nationals racing to a quarterfinal finish. The team took advantage of two days of qualifying with Kalitta closing out qualifying with his quickest run of the weekend a 3.728 second at 329.50 mph pass to jump to the No. 4 position. He was sitting seventh with a 3.752 second pass before his final qualifying pass. It was the second quickest run of the third qualifying session. He also had the fourth quickest run of the second session on Saturday. The consistent runs had Kalitta and the Mac Tools team ready for race day.In the first round Kalitta never trailed versus Cameron Ferre getting a starting line advantage of .073 to. 096 and the veteran driver made a smooth pass for the win. His winning time of 3.742 seconds at 330.23 mph gave Kalitta lane choice over his teammate Shawn Langdon in the second round.
In the quarterfinals Kalitta had a tough draw with Langdon and the DHL Toyota dragster in the opposite lane. Both veteran drivers took off together but as the Mac Tools dragster closed in on half-track his Goodyear tires lost traction. Langdon was on a smooth run and pulled away for the win.
“This Mac Tools race car has been good. It is just unfortunate to get beat by Shawn,” said Kalitta, a 49-time national event winner. “The good thing is at least one Kalitta Motorsports Top Fuel dragsters moved on to the semis. We are making big strides. Qualifying better is a huge deal for me and all my Mac Tools guys. Our goal was to go some rounds and we are moving in the right direction. We will be ready for the next race. We are working to stay in the hunt.”
About Kalitta Motorsports:
Based in Ypsilanti, Mich., Kalitta Motorsports is a Top Fuel and Funny Car drag racing team in the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) Camping World Drag Racing Series. The team was founded and is owned by drag racing icon Connie “the Bounty Hunter” Kalitta. Celebrating over 60 years of Kalitta Motorsports, Connie has been involved in the sport as a driver, tuner, and an owner. Kalitta Motorsports is one of the most successful teams in the history of auto racing with seven world championships and over 100 national event titles in five different professional drag racing sanctioning bodies since it was established by Connie in 1959.
