Today during the NHRA Sonoma Nationals Shawn Langdon and the DHL Kalitta Air Top Fuel dragster were looking for their second Top Fuel victory at the multi-use facility in northern California. After two days of qualifying Langdon rolled into race day as the No. 9 qualifier in a twelve race car field. Langdon’s quickest run prior to eliminations was a 3.809 second, 318.24 mph pass.
In the opening session the 2013 NHRA Top Fuel world champion and pilot of the DHL Top Fuel dragster was giving up lane choice to the No. 4 qualifier Clay Millican. The pair were the first race cars to take to the track today and Langdon jumped out to a lead with a reaction time advantage of .050 to .080. As the race cars accelerated down track Millican moved around Langdon and approached the finish line. Just before the stripe Millican lost power and Langdon was able to chase him down for the win. The margin of victory was approximately 13 inches at over 320 mph. It was Langdon and the DHL team’s quickest run of the weekend.
In the quarterfinal round Langdon drew Antron Brown. It was another close race for the DHL team with Langdon’s race car losing traction just past half-track and Brown driving away from Langdon for the win.
“We got a nice win in the first round with a solid run,” said Langdon. “The DHL team did everything we needed to for that win. The guys are giving me a good race car we just need to string a couple rounds together on race day. I will be ready to get to Pomona and try and end the swing on a high note.”
The DHL team will head to the final race of the historic Western Swing next weekend in Pomona, California sitting in the No. 4 spot in the NHRA Camping World Top Fuel standings with four races remaining in the NHRA regular season.
Statistics:
Qualified: No. 9 (3.809 sec., 318.24 mph)
Bonus points: 0
Race Details:
First Round
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH
Shawn Langdon 9 .050 3.789 321.35 (W)
Clay Millican 4 .080 3.761 281.13
Second Round
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH
Shawn Langdon 9 .059 4.308 192.44
Antron Brown 3 .046 3.815 313.88 (W)
Kalitta Motorsports PR
