POMONA — Veteran Top Fuel drag racer Shawn Langdon made big gains two weekends ago in Gainesville, Fla.
His victory at the Gatornationals, the opening event of 20 on this year’s National Hot Rod Association schedule, was Langdon’s first win on the circuit since 2020. Now the Mira Loma native is back in his home area aiming to maintain his hot streak when he competes in this weekend’s NHRA Winternationals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip.
Langdon not only won at Gainesville, he also emerged from the rain-delayed Saturday qualifying as the top-seeded driver. In the fourth qualifying session, Langdon leapfrogged Steve Torrence with a run of 3.682 seconds and a top speed of 334.15 mph. Langdon beat Billy Torrence, Steve’s father, in Sunday’s elimination final showdown.
Langdon and his team, headed by new crew chief Brian Husen and new assistant crew chief Justin Groat, were hitting on all cylinders. The only hiccup all weekend came when Langdon smoked his tires in his first qualifying run Saturday. His dragster was the first after the rain delay.
On Sunday, his times for his four winning elimination rounds were 3.690, 3.709, 3.702, and 3.711. Now that’s consistency.
“We had a good car at times the last couple of years,” Langdon said, “but with Brian and Justin coming in along with a couple of other guys and just rearranging things, the changes have shown a great reward so far.”
Langdon, who now lives in Indianapolis, comes into Pomona atop the Top Fuel standings with a 39-point lead over Steve Torrence.
Langdon is hardly an unknown in drag racing. The 41-year-old has been competing in the NHRA’s top circuit since 2009. He won seven times in 2013 to claim the Top Fuel national championship. (The NHRA prefers to call them world championships despite no international competition.)
Overall, Langdon has won 18 event titles in Top Fuel and two in Funny Car. He has 19 runner-up finishes and 19 times has been the top qualifier.
Mira…
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