Alan Johnson Racing 16th Annual Summitracing.com NHRA Nationals Race Wrap Up
Qualifying: Shawn Langdon was the No. 3 qualifier at the Summitracing.com NHRA Nationals. During the second
round of qualifying late Friday afternoon, Langdon posted a 3.782-second elapsed time at 315.93 mph. The Las Vegas event was the third time in five races this season that Langdon has qualified in the top-three positions.
Eliminations: Langdon defeated points leader Antron Brown in the first round with the team’s strategic marketing partner, Guy Fieri, looking on. In the second round, the Knuckle Sandwich/AJPE Toyota dropped a cylinder, and Langdon lost to Spencer Massey.
Unofficial Point Standings: Langdon remains third in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings. He trails second-place Tony Schumacher five points and leads fourth-place Spencer Massey by 12 points. Langdon trails points leader Antron Brown by 15 points.
Still Searching for Sponsorship: Alan Johnson Racing is still searching for primary sponsorship after unexpectedly losing its funding a month before the 2015 season began, but the team now has some breathing room. Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Alan Johnson Racing’s longest-standing partner having first joined the team in 2001, has increased its support. Thanks to Toyota’s increased backing announced March 28, the team can continue to compete while searching for primary sponsorship. Alan Johnson Racing hopes to race the entire 2015 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season and compete for the 2015 Top Fuel championship, but it must secure long-term primary sponsorship.
Langdon on Las Vegas: “Our first-round match-up with Antron (Brown) was huge because he’s the points leader, and fortunately, we were able to get by him. The Knuckle Sandwich/AJPE Toyota team struggled a little bit this weekend with the car dropping cylinders, and we lost to Spencer (Massey) in the second round. We always have confidence and feel like we’re going to win rounds, but to have beaten Spencer today, we would have needed an excellent run. We dropped a cylinder early, and that didn’t leave us any opportunity to do that. It was slightly disappointing, but it ended up being a pretty good points weekend for us. It definitely bunched everything up; looking at the point standings, it’s anyone’s game for the next couple of races.
“It was obviously great having Guy with us today. It’s huge for team morale because everyone gets excited having him around. He’s great with the all the fans that are so excited to see him. It’s neat when he shows up for a race.”
Next Race: Alan Johnson Racing will be back in action April 24-26, 2015 at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Springnationals near Houston. For additional information, please visit nhra.com. For additional information on the Alan Johnson Racing Team, please visit alanjohnsonracing.com.
