Langdon Races to Quarterfinals in Richmond; Moves into Top Ten

North Dinwiddie, VA – Through three rounds of qualifying Shawn Langdon and the DHL Toyota Top Fuel team made two solid runs with his final pass moving the 2013 Top Fuel NHRA world champion into the top half of the field. After a rain delay in the middle of Saturday Langdon took full advantage of prime conditions posting a 3.724 second run moving into the No. 8 spot. For his efforts he earned lane choice over Doug Foley in the first round.

Langdon has won nearly 75% of his first round races when he qualifies in the top half of the field and he continued his dominance with another first round win light over Foley. When the tree flashed Foley launched but his race car didn’t move much beyond the tree and Langdon took off on his best run of the weekend. His DHL Toyota dragster hit the finish line stripe with a winning elapsed time of 3.769 seconds at 328.38 mph. His time was quick enough to earn him lane choice in the quarterfinals.

“That was a nice win in the first round,” said Langdon. “That is the kind of performance we have been looking for and I know we can duplicate it. This DHL Toyota team has been really working hard and that round was proof of our efforts.”

In the second round Langdon faced the No. 1 qualifier and was looking to advance to his first semifinal of the season. The DHL Top Fuel dragster and Langdon got the jump off the starting line with a .057 reaction time, but it overpowered the track almost immediately. Langdon could not chase down his opponent who was on a smooth pass.

“We knew we had to get aggressive against the No. 1 qualifier even though we had lane choice,” said Langdon. “I think even though we didn’t get that win we learned something that we can take to future races. I am looking forward to getting back to the track in a few weeks. I am glad we moved into the Top Ten and I know we can keep improving.”

With his quarterfinal finish Langdon moved into the Top Ten in the Top Fuel Camping World point standings. The series will move on to the New England Nationals in June.

Statistics:
Qualified: Qual. 8 (3.724 sec., 308.71 mph)
Bonus points: 0

Race Details:

First Round
Qual    Driver                                                  RT        ET        MPH
8          Shawn Langdon                                  .151     3.769   328.38
9          Doug Foley                                          .085     No Time

Second Round
Qual    Driver                                                  RT        ET        MPH
8          Shawn Langdon                                  .057     4.512   203.22
1          Brittany Force                                     .065     3.788   328.94 (W)