Alan Johnson Racing 28th Annual NHRA Sonoma Nationals Post-Event Wrap-Up
Qualifying: Shawn Langdon was the No. 10 qualifier at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals. During the first round of 
qualifying Friday afternoon, Langdon posted a 3.802-second effort at 320.51 mph.
Eliminations: Langdon raced former AJR driver Larry Dixon in the first round. Langdon was on a brilliant pass and was leading Dixon when the camshaft on the Knuckle Sandwich Toyota dragster broke. Langdon was completely out of power, and Dixon drove to the win light. The team’s strategic marketing partner, Guy Fieri, attended the race today. Fieri is assisting the team with its sponsorship search.
Unofficial Point Standings: With the first-round loss, Langdon dropped two spots to 10th place in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings. He trails ninth-place J.R. Todd by two points and leads 11th-place Clay Millican by 80 points. However, Langdon is just 14 points out of seventh place.
Still Searching for Sponsorship: Alan Johnson Racing needs a primary sponsor. The sponsorship search has been going on since the team unexpectedly lost its funding a month before the 2015 season began. Langdon is currently driving the Knuckle Sandwich Toyota Top Fuel dragster. Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Alan Johnson Racing’s longest-standing partner having first joined the team in 2001, is funding the team. Thanks to Toyota’s increased backing, the team is racing 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 Sonoma: “It’s unfortunate that we broke the camshaft and lost in the first round today because the Knuckle Sandwich Toyota car is really turning the corner. The only run we missed was the Friday-night session, and that’s the main reason we qualified where we did. This morning’s run, we were on our way to making what could have been the quickest run of the first round when the camshaft broke. We take a lot of positive signs out of this weekend – we didn’t go any rounds, and we dropped a little more in the points, but we have a little bit of a handle on our race car again. I’m excited to get to Seattle next weekend.
“It’s always neat to have Guy Fieri at the race track with us. He’s fun, we enjoy having him out here, and obviously he has a big fan following. It’s neat see not only the team but also the fans around the race track get so excited when he’s at a race. Everybody loves him so hopefully we can get him out to a couple more races this year and maybe get him another victory along the way so we have something to celebrate.”
Next Race: Alan Johnson Racing will be back in action Aug. 7-9, 2015 at the 28th annual NHRA Northwest information on Alan Johnson Racing, please visit alanjohnsonracing.com.
