LANGDON, TOYOTA EARN RUNNER-UP FINISH AT NHRA FINALS IN POMONA
POMONA, CA – Shawn Langdon advanced to his second Top Fuel final in the last three races before falling to 
Brittany Force to lead Toyota at the Auto Club NHRA Finals at the Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, California.
Langdon used spectacular reaction times on the tree on the way to beating Tony Schumacher, Leah Pritchett and teammate Doug Kalitta in the first three rounds with the victories over Schumacher and Kalitta both coming on hole-shots. In the finals, he turned in the top reaction time of the day with an 0.32 light compared to Force’s .065, but the car smoked the tires early to end any hope of winning his final Top Fuel event.
“I’m disappointed only for the fact that I really wanted that win for these Global Electronic Toyota guys,” said Langdon, who will make the transition to Funny Cars next season. “All in all, it’s a great way to end the season. We got to the final round. We just didn’t have it in the final. We lost to a good car. We lost to the champ.
“It was nice to end, for now, my dragster career, on a good note. I love Pomona and I love coming out here. At Pomona, I give everything I’ve got and I think my reaction times showed it today. I’m heading to Funny Car and it will be a new chapter in my career. It will be a new challenge, a new learning curve, I’m excited about it and I’m ready for the challenge.”
All four Toyota Top Fuel drivers won in the first round today, with three of the four reaching the semi-finals or beyond. In addition to Langdon, Antron Brown lost to Force by just .002 seconds in the semi-finals after defeating Mike Salinas and Steve Torrence, who entered the day as the series point leader.
Kalitta knocked off Wayne Newby and Clay Millican on the way to his semi-final duel with Langdon. Richie Crampton also won his first round match-up with Terry McMillen before being eliminated by Force in round two.
In Funny Car, both Alexis DeJoria and Del Worsham advanced to the second round today. DeJoria defeated Jim Campbell before falling in a close match-up with Tommy Johnson Jr. in round two. It marked her final Funny Car run as she had previously announced her retirement at season’s end.
Worsham closed out his first season with the revamped Worsham-Fink Racing by eliminating Ron Capps from the championship race with an opening round win. Unfortunately, Worsham suffered an ignition malfunction and was unable to make the second round. J.R. Todd lost in his opening run.
The 2018 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series kicks off with the Lucas Oil Winternationals at the Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Feb. 9-11.
