Langdon Drives DHL Top Fuel to Quarterfinals in Las Vegas

Las Vegas – Shawn Langdon and the DHL Toyota Top Fuel dragster entered the NHRA Las Vegas Four-Wide Nationals looking to capture their first win at the unique event. He wanted to add a Top Fuel trophy to the Funny Car title he won at the 2019 NHRA Charlotte Four-Wide Nationals. After four qualifying runs at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Langdon was sitting in the No. 11 spot but the veteran driver knew his team was in a good position to continue to improve.

In a first round quad that included teammate Doug Kalitta as well as Leah Pruett and Rob Passey, Langdon was looking to advance with Kalitta to the second round. When the tree flashed Langdon was right behind Kalitta and quickly advanced down lane two. As the finish line closed in Langdon was in a prime position and crossed the finish line second behind Pruett. Langdon’s elapsed time of 3.853 seconds was just a shade off his best qualifying effort of 3.808 seconds. His winning run was smooth and right down the middle of his lane.

In the second round the 2013 Top Fuel world champion was joined by four-time world champion Steve Torrence, Brittany Force and Pruett. Langdon was the first dragster off the starting line with a strong .052 reaction time. As he was closing in on the finish line his dragster experienced some issues losing power and dropping him back in the pack.

“We definitely made some positive strides this weekend with our DHL Toyota dragster,” said Langdon. “That first round win was a nice boost and I don’t know what happened in the second round. We have a couple weeks off and then it’s on to Houston.”

Statistics:
Qualified: Qual. 11 (3.808 sec, 317.87 mph)
Bonus points: 0

Race Details:

E1
Qual/Driver                                                     RT        ET        MPH
No.3; Leah Pruett                                            .042     3.740   327.27 (W)
No. 11; Shawn Langdon                                .069     3.853   316.01 (W)
No. 6; Doug Kalitta                                         .065     4.100   227.80
No. 14; Rob Passey                                         .098     13.101 63.28

E2:
Qual/Driver                                                     RT        ET        MPH
No.2; Brittany Force                                       .056     3.725   329.58 (W)
No. 7; Steve Torrence                                     .057     3.744   328.46 (W)
No.3; Leah Pruett                                           .068     3.745   325.69
No. 11; Shawn Langdon                                .052     3.884   294.31