Alan Johnson Racing Readies for 31st annual CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals
? Shawn Langdon enters the CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals in first place in the NHRA Mello Yello Top 
Fuel point standings. He leads second-place Antron Brown by 32 points.
? Alan Johnson Racing opened the 2015 NHRA season Feb. 6 while exploring sponsorship options for 2015 and beyond. The team announced on Jan. 5 that it unexpectedly lost its funding in the final days of 2014. The one-car team will definitely race this weekend in Phoenix, but subsequent races will be determined by sponsor acquisition.
? Langdon won the season-opening Circle K NHRA Winternationals Feb. 8 in Pomona, Calif. It was his second Winternationals win and the third-consecutive Alan Johnson Racing win at the opening race of the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season. Alan Johnson Racing has now won five of the last six races at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif.
? Langdon made the quickest pass in NHRA history during the Winternationals on Feb. 7. During the third and final qualifying session Saturday afternoon, Langdon’s 3.700-second pass put him on top of the qualifying order. Langdon’s Knuckle Sandwich/AJPE Toyota dragster posted the quickest elapsed time in five of the seven Top Fuel sessions at Pomona. Rain forced cancellation of the final qualifying session.
? Langdon’s Pomona No. 1 qualifier gives him 17 in his career and ties him with the late Blaine Johnson for career No. 1 qualifiers. Blaine Johnson was team owner Alan Johnson’s brother who was killed in a racing accident in 1996.
? Langdon made the quickest run ever on Feb. 7, but it is not the national record. Langdon was unable to “backup” his quick run with another within one percent of 3.700 seconds in the same race weekend to certify the run as the NHRA national record as required by NHRA rules. Therefore, Langdon owns the quickest run ever but not the national record. Coincidentally, Langdon also owns the fastest run ever, 334.15 mph, but not the speed record because he did not make another run within one percent of that speed during the same race weekend as NHRA rules require.
? After qualifying No. 1 at Pomona, Langdon defeated Steve Chrisman, Leah Pritchett, Spencer Massey and Antron Brown on his way to the 10th win of his Top Fuel career. He became the first driver to win the Winternationals as the No. 1 qualifier since current ESPN analyst Mike Dunn did in 1999.
Langdon prior to Phoenix:
“I don’t think Pomona could have been any more perfect for Alan Johnson Racing. I guess if we had been able to get that national (elapsed time) record, it would have capped it off, but that’s neither here nor there. We made the quickest pass ever, qualified No. 1 and got the win the first race out. We did what we set out to do. Everything we tried to do in testing all came together at Pomona, and it was absolutely a picture-perfect weekend.
“Going on into Phoenix, we have to keep the momentum going and keep plugging away with what we’re doing. The car is responding well. We’re still working on sponsorship to fund the car through the 2015 season. We’re hard at work trying to get the race car running well and running consistently, but we’re also hard at work trying to get sponsorship lined up for the season.
“I’m hoping the Knuckle Sandwich/AJPE team can pick up right where it left off in Pomona when we get to Phoenix this weekend. They have a lot of new improvements at the race track in Phoenix, and I’m excited to get back there this weekend. A couple of the cars ran well there in Phoenix testing so that shows the track is good. We just need to keep doing what we’re doing. Our confidence is definitely sky-high; we’re all very motivated right now, and we’re ready to go racing in Phoenix.”
