Shawn Langdon and DHL Top Fuel Leave Pomona Focused on Success in Phoenix

Pomona, CA – In a rematch of the 2021 NHRA Gatornationals final round Shawn Langdon and the DHL Kalitta Air Top Fuel dragster took on Josh Hart in the first round today at the NHRA Winternationals. Langdon battled through two days of qualifying at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona to qualify No. 8 in a tough Top Fuel field. During the last session of three Langdon ran to the No. 6 qualifying position with a 3.740 second run at 325.22 mph. By the end of qualifying, he was shuffled back to the No. 8 spot. He earned lane choice in the first round against the No. 9 qualifier.

This season the team added crew chief Jason “Jake” McCulloch to the DHL Top Fuel team led by Connie Kaliita and Kurt Elliott. With the drag racing legend Connie Kalitta making the tuning decision this season is set to be a strong one for Langdon, the 2013 Top Fuel world champion. Langdon worked with McCulloch when they were teammates during his championship run. He is excited to see the progress the team will make over the course of the season.

“This is going to be my fourth season with Connie and I started working with Kurt when I was driving Funny Car. I am very familiar with them and I raced with Jason years ago,” said Langdon. “We have a really good chemistry and we understand each other. We have a lot if similar philosophies and our racing mentality is on the same path. This is a great group of guys and we have a great DHL Kalitta Air team over here. This is a team that is ready to win. We just have to keep putting in the work.”

Rolling into the first round Langdon got the jump off the starting line with a reaction time advantage of .045 to .066. As his dragster accelerated down track, he was slightly down on power with a dropped cylinder slowing his dragster to a 3.920 second run at only 300.20 mph. That reduction in power was enough for Langdon’s opponent to get around him for the win light.

Langdon will head to the second race of the season sitting No. 10 in the Camping World Top Fuel points standings.

Quotable:
Langdon on starting season with some new team additions: “I always enjoy going back to Pomona and it is a track great track for me. I have had some success there. We have had a lot of changes this year, so we have been working on a lot of things in testing. We have some guys in new positions so getting them acclimated has been a big focus for the team.”

Statistics:
Qualified: No. 8 (3.740 sec., 325.22mph)
Bonus points: 0

Race Details:

First Round
Driver                          Qual    R/T      ET        MPH
Shawn Langdon          8          .045     3.920   300.20
Josh Hart                     9          .066     3.740   327.82 (W)