Toyota NHRA Chicago Preview

LANGDON LOOKS TO MAKE IT THREE IN A ROW IN CHICAGO – The 2016 campaign has been a tale of two seasons for Shawn Langdon. After losing in the first round in five consecutive races to open the year, Langdon heads to the Route 66 Raceway looking for a third consecutive Top Fuel victory. After wins at Bristol and Norwalk, Langdon has now registered a 14-4 round record in the last six races. With a pair of semi-final appearances to go with the wins, he’s now climbed up to sixth place in the point standings, just 18 points out of the top five and just 136 out of the top three with six races remaining before the Countdown to the Championship playoffs begin in September.

Shawn Langdon: “It’s unbelievable. From where we started at the beginning of the year with this Red Fuel Toyota team with all the changes that we made through the first couple of races – all the test sessions, this is what we worked for. We had to take a step back. We started to progress the car and had a better car, but we just weren’t getting the luck on Sunday. We just kept the mentality that we have to ride the waves. Drag racing is very streaky. You’re going to have the highs and the lows, but you have to not get too down from the lows and not just soak in all the highs. You have to continue to work and that’s what these guys have done. We’re reaping the benefits of all the hard work. We’re starting to see a little bit of luck go our way. When you have a good car like we do right now, it puts a little more pressure on the other teams. They have to start pushing their cars. So rather than seeing a good race at the finish line, we’re starting to see teams smoke some tires and take some chances against us. It’s a good feeling and I’m just happy to be a part of this team.”

KALITTA, BROWN CONTINUE TOP FUEL BATTLE – Toyota Top Fuel drivers Doug Kalitta and Antron Brown continue to battle for the series point lead with Kalitta holding a 69-point advantage heading into Chicago. He took over the top spot after winning Atlanta in May and has held it for the last five races with Brown right on his heels in second the entire time. Brown will be looking for his third Chicago win in the last five years, while Kalitta is attempting to earn a fourth Chicago win with the last coming in 2006.

WORSHAM EYES FOURTH CHICAGO FC VICTORY – Del Worsham has won three previous Funny Car races at the Route 66 Speedway, but never has he run like he has recently in his DHL Toyota Camry. The 2015 Funny Car world champion has run a pass in the 3.8’s in two consecutive events, including a career-low 3.875-second pass to win the pole at the most recent race in Norwalk. Worsham also holds the distinction of being the only NHRA driver to win in Chicago in both Funny Car (2001, 2002 and 2004) and Top Fuel (2011).