The NHRA Midwest Nationals this weekend outside St. Louis will be the chance for Shawn Langdon and the Global Electronic Technology Toyota Camry Funny Car to make history on a variety of levels. The second year Funny Car driver is coming off a tough start to the 2019 Countdown two weeks ago but the team is by no means out of the championship conversation. In the opening race of the playoffs every No. 1 seed fell out of their points lead and the field tightened up giving every team the opportunity to stay in the hunt for the Mello Yello championship.
“The Countdown definitely didn’t start the way we wanted it to,” said Langdon. “We hadn’t had a first round loss since I don’t know when and we struggled in qualifying for the first time in a long time. We finally got a handle on the tune-up and took a first round loss. You can’t afford those in the Countdown but luckily some of the top teams also lost in the first round so we are very much still in the fight.”
Langdon is once again looking to bolster his racing resume by becoming just the second racer to win a Top Fuel title and a Funny Car title at the NHRA Midwest Nationals. Langdon has a Top Fuel win from 2016, when he took out Tony Schumacher in the final. The only other two class winner is legendary racer Gary Scelzi who is also a multi-nitro class world champion. Scelzi has three Top Fuel wins in St. Louis and one Funny Car win. If Langdon can join him on the double winner list it will go a long way in moving him closer to his first Funny Car world championship.
“It is great to come to tracks where I have won in Top Fuel and look at doubling up,” said Langdon. “You look at the list of guys that have won in both Top Fuel and Funny Car and it is a Who’s Who of drag racing legends. They are all Hall of Famers so just to be included in the conversation is great. Our goal this weekend will be to park this Global Electronic Technology Funny Car in the winner’s circle regardless of history. We want to get more wins this season and I think we have the Camry race car to get that done.”
In addition to Langdon’s win in 2016 he also has a Top Fuel runner-up finish in 2014 and a No. 1 qualifier in 2013. The second race of the Countdown will be a strong test for Langdon and his Toyota backed team to bounce back into the championship hunt. Their consistency throughout the back half of the regular season has the Charlotte winner confident they will get back on track.
“We have a really consistent and fast race car,” said Langdon. “You look at how we finished the regular season with round wins on Sunday and top half qualifying efforts. That is the race car we will be looking for over the last five races of the Countdown. Del (Worsham) and Nicky (Boninfante) got a good handle on the tune-up on Sunday in Reading we just had a tough first round. We all want to qualify high up in the top half and then do some damage on race day. I am confident we can get that rolling in St. Louis.”
2018 NHRA Midwest Nationals Highlights: Qualified No. 10; Lost to J.R. Todd
Last Event Recap (2019 NHRA Reading Nationals): Qual. No. 8; Lost to Matt Hagan
Quotable: Langdon on heading to St. Louis: “We need to go rounds in St. Louis. No doubt about it. I think you can have one mistake in the Countdown. We put Reading behind us and we have five races between us and the Funny Car championship. Everyone on this Global Electronic Technology team is focused.”
Career Stats: 251 events, 248 starts, 281 round wins, 15 wins, 32 finals, 18 No. 1 qualifiers in Funny Car 43 events, 43 starts, 31 round wins, 1 wins, 2 finals, 0 No. 1 qualifiers
2019 Season:
Winternationals: Qual. No. 6; Beat Jim Campbell; Lost to Tommy Johnson Jr.
Arizona Nationals: Qual. No. 7; Beat Cruz Pedregon; Lost to Matt Hagan
Gatornationals: Qual. No. 10; Lost to Cruz Pedregon
Las Vegas1: Qual. No. 8; Lost to Tim Wilkeron and Jeff Diehl
Houston: Qual. No. 10; Beat Cruz Pedregon; Lost to Ron Capps
Charlotte1: Qual. No. 5; WINNER; Beat Jeff Diehl and Terry Haddock; Beat J.R. Todd and Tommy Johnson Jr; Beat Robert Hight, John Force and Matt Hagan
Atlanta: Qual. No. 6; Lost to Ron Capps
Richmond: Qual. No. 5; Beat Tim Wilkerson; Lost to J.R. Todd
Chicago: Qual. No. 4; Lost to Jeff Arend
Topeka: Qual. No. 8; Lost to Robert Hight
Bristol: Qual. No. 2; Beat Jeff Diehl; Lost to Ron Capps
Norwalk: Qual. No. 12; Beat Blake Alexander; Lost to Jack Beckman
Epping: Qual. No. 5; RUNNER-UP; Beat Jim Campbell, Robert Hight, Tim Wilkerson; Lost to Matt Hagan
Denver: Qual. No. 9; Beat Tim Wilkerson; Lost to Robert Hight
Sonoma: Qual. No. 2; Beat Terry Haddock; Lost to John Force
Seattle: Qual. No. 6; Beat Cruz Pedregon; Lost to Matt Hagan
Brainerd: Qual. No. 6; Beat Paul Lee, Bob Bode; Lost to Ron Capps
Indianapolis: Qual. No. 7; Beat Tommy Johnson Jr.; Lost to Matt Hagan
Reading: Qual. No. 8; Lost to Matt Hagan
Kalitta Motorsports PR
