By Mike Haag | Raceday San Antonio
ENNIS, Texas — Shawn Langdon’s run through the NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoffs continued Friday night at Texas Motorplex, where the Top Fuel points leader delivered the quickest pass of his career to capture the provisional No. 1 qualifying position at the 41st annual Texas NHRA FallNationals.
Langdon powered his 12,000-horsepower Kalitta Air dragster down the quarter-mile facility’s 1,000-foot racing distance in 3.648 seconds at 340.39 mph during JEGS Friday Night Live, earning a $15,000 bonus in the Battle for the Saddle competition. The performance also marked the quickest Top Fuel elapsed time of the year as the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series celebrates its 75th anniversary.
The run came under challenging conditions as strong winds and a cold front swept through the Texas Motorplex during the opening day of qualifying. Cooler temperatures nevertheless provided an opportunity for quicker performances as teams pushed their machines to the limit during the evening session.
“We were actually trying to run a little bit better than that, but in these conditions, you have to have everything perfect to do it,” Langdon said. “Too much you’ll smoke, and not enough you’ll shake. So it’s a fine line. You have to hit it right, and fortunately, we were able to.”
Langdon is positioned to secure his eighth No. 1 qualifying spot of the season and 30th of his career. More importantly, the four-time consecutive national event winner has won the first three races of the six-event Countdown and is seeking his first victory at Texas Motorplex.
With three races remaining, including Sunday’s eliminations, Langdon entered the weekend with eight victories this season and a 116-point advantage over Kalitta Motorsports teammate Doug Kalitta. Another strong weekend could help him strengthen his hold on the championship.
Tony Stewart challenged Langdon with a 3.668-second run at 343.70 mph, establishing a Texas Motorplex track speed record and taking the provisional second qualifying position. Defending FallNationals winner Kalitta also ran 3.668 seconds, at 338.80 mph, to rank third.
Langdon credited crew chief Brian Husen and the Kalitta Motorsports organization for preparing a car capable of producing exceptional performances, particularly when track and weather conditions create opportunities for quicker elapsed times.
“It just goes to show the attention to detail that the Kalitta Air team has done, from the crew guys putting the car together perfectly to Brian paying attention to every little detail,” Langdon said. “He’s not looking at the whole run. He’s looking at every quarter-second of the run and just dissecting everything.”
Although cooler temperatures helped produce some of the season’s quickest runs, Langdon said the competition is improving and his team must continue executing to maintain its advantage.
“I feel like we have a really good car, a fast race car, so I feel like it’s a little bit of an advantage for our team,” Langdon said. “But there’s still so many variables that go along with it. The other teams are starting to make good runs and starting to catch up.”
Despite his championship lead, Langdon said he is focused on the next run rather than the standings. An earlier stretch this season, when his substantial advantage disappeared, reinforced the importance of consistency.
“We know we have goals and what we’d like to do, but we just got to keep working,” Langdon said. “We’ve seen, like in the middle of the year, we had a big lead and that went away quickly. And so you just got to go one run at a time and keep getting those little points.”
The $15,000 Battle for the Saddle bonus offered another incentive for Langdon and his team to deliver a strong performance.
“I mean, $15,000 is a lot of money, and thank you to JEGS,” Langdon said. “Great companies like that stay involved in the sport, and it keeps the teams out here striving for more and pushing it.”
In Funny Car, Jack Beckman claimed the provisional No. 1 qualifying position, while Greg Stanfield led Pro Stock and Gaige Herrera topped Pro Stock Motorcycle. Changing weather conditions limited the two Pro Stock categories to one qualifying session Friday. Both will have three sessions Saturday, including their respective Battle for the Saddle bonus competitions.
The FallNationals, part of the annual Stampede of Speed celebration at Texas Motorplex, is the fourth of six Countdown to the Championship races and the 18th of 20 events on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series schedule. Qualifying resumes at 10:30 a.m. Central Saturday, with final eliminations scheduled for Sunday.
ENNIS, Texas — Friday’s results after the first two of four rounds of qualifying for the 41st annual Texas NHRA FallNationals at Texas Motorplex, 18th of 20 events in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. Qualifying will continue Saturday for Sunday’s final eliminations.
Top Fuel — 1. Shawn Langdon, 3.648 seconds, 340.39 mph; 2. Tony Stewart, 3.668, 343.70; 3. Doug Kalitta, 3.668, 338.80; 4. Antron Brown, 3.677, 335.32; 5. Leah Pruett, 3.697, 334.20; 6. Maddi Gordon, 3.701, 333.43; 7. Justin Ashley, 3.713, 335.80; 8. Josh Hart, 3.714, 337.64; 9. Will Smith, 3.714, 335.80; 10. Clay Millican, 3.716, 332.45; 11. Billy Torrence, 3.746, 333.95; 12. Shawn Reed, 3.761, 334.70; 13. Dan Mercier, 3.785, 311.55; 14. Tony Schumacher, 3.809, 283.30; 15. Jake Sanders, 3.900, 304.47; 16. Lee Callaway, 4.026, 225.28.
Not Qualified: 17. Charles Loftin, 4.400, 195.58; 18. Cameron Ferre, 4.589, 169.57; 19. Spencer Massey, 6.986, 86.97.
Funny Car — 1. Jack Beckman, Chevy Camaro, 3.852, 330.13; 2. Matt Hagan, Dodge Charger, 3.855, 334.80; 3. Cruz Pedregon, Charger, 3.855, 323.83; 4. Alexis DeJoria, Camaro, 3.873, 333.09; 5. J.R. Todd, Toyota GR Supra, 3.874, 337.13; 6. Jordan Vandergriff, Camaro, 3.881, 333.83; 7. Chad Green, Ford Mustang, 3.910, 330.32; 8. Blake Alexander, Toyota Supra, 3.914, 327.92; 9. Paul Lee, Charger, 3.921, 326.80; 10. Spencer Hyde, Mustang, 3.922, 323.93; 11. Dave Richards, Mustang, 3.925, 333.68;
12. Daniel Wilkerson, Mustang, 3.937, 330.35; 13. Ron Capps, GR Supra, 3.960, 319.83; 14. Hunter Green, Charger, 3.985, 321.31; 15. Jeff Arend, Charger, 4.050, 315.99; 16. Chris King, Charger, 4.077, 268.02.
Not Qualified: 17. Jim Campbell, 4.113, 291.58; 18. Austin Prock, 4.201, 218.63; 19. Jeff Diehl, 4.331, 214.65; 20. Terry Haddock, 4.954, 157.63.
Pro Stock — 1. Greg Stanfield, Chevy Camaro, 6.460, 212.80; 2. Troy Coughlin Jr., Camaro, 6.464, 212.74; 3. Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.468, 210.51; 4. Dallas Glenn, Camaro, 6.469, 211.56; 5. Aaron Stanfield, Camaro, 6.470, 211.63; 6. Matt Hartford, Camaro, 6.473, 213.03; 7. Deric Kramer, Camaro, 6.478, 212.42; 8. Erica Enders, Camaro, 6.481, 212.41; 9. Matt Latino, Camaro, 6.481, 212.10; 10. Jeg Coughlin, Camaro, 6.484, 211.83; 11. Shane Tucker, Camaro, 6.502, 213.44; 12. Eric Latino, Camaro, 6.511, 210.24; 13. Chris Vang, Camaro, 6.516, 210.54; 14. Mason McGaha, Camaro, 6.521, 212.30; 15. Stephen Bell, Camaro, 6.527, 210.74; 16. Kenny Delco, Camaro, 6.539, 211.80.
Not Qualified: 17. Cody Anderson, 6.570, 197.34; 18. Cliff Mayes, 6.753, 206.77; 19. Jerry Tucker, 12.371, 91.34.
Pro Stock Motorcycle — 1. Gaige Herrera, Suzuki, 6.676, 202.22; 2. Matt Smith, Buell, 6.709, 201.86; 3. Angie Smith, Buell, 6.725, 202.28; 4. Joey Gladstone, Buell, 6.768, 198.50; 5. Chase Van Sant, Suzuki, 6.790, 198.47; 6. Clayton Howey, Buell, 6.880, 170.62; 7. Marc Ingwersen, EBR, 6.997, 195.09; 8. Geno Scali, Suzuki, 7.009, 186.39; 9. Malcolm Phillips Jr., Suzuki, 7.033, 170.07; 10. GT Tonglet, Buell, 7.050, 190.52; 11. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.252, 154.34; 12. Richard Gadson, Suzuki, 7.794, 124.56; 13. Ryan Oehler, EBR, 8.156, 110.72; 14. Chris Bostick, Suzuki, 8.182, 111.79; 15. Hector
Arana, EBR, 8.667, 174.53; 16. Blaine Hale, Suzuki, 17.450, 40.42.
Not Qualified: 17. Hector Arana Jr, 64.999, no speed.
