Shawn Langdon and DHL Toyota Top Fuel Looking to Fire on All Cylinders at VMP

photo by Auto Imagery, Inc.

The last time Shawn Langdon powered a Top Fuel dragster down the track at Virginia Motorsports Park he was a rookie in Top Fuel. It was 2009 and Langdon qualified No. 8 and lost a close first round match-up to current teammate Doug Kalitta. This weekend Langdon will power the DHL Toyota Top Fuel dragster at the Virginia Nationals for the fourth time his career. From 2018-2019 Langdon raced a Toyota Funny Car at the track located just outside Richmond and now he is looking to build his Top Fuel win record with a successful weekend starting with Friday night’s qualifying session.
 
“It has been a while since I drove a Top Fuel dragster in Richmond,” said Langdon. “We raced here a few years ago in our Toyota Funny Car but I am looking forward to getting down the track in this DHL Toyota Top Fuel dragster. This team has been making progress over these first few races.”
 
The weather forecast for the weekend does not look promising with thunderstorms predicted for Friday and Saturday. A break in the weather on Sunday would allow Langdon and his Top Fuel competitors to get four rounds of racing in before the rains potentially return at the start of the week. Earlier this season rain impacted the Gatornationals qualifying sessions only allowing teams to make one qualifying run.
 
“You want to get as many runs as possible every weekend, but we can’t control Mother Nature,” said Langdon. “The great thing about this DHL Toyota Top Fuel dragster team and our whole Kalitta Motorsports organization is we all work together. We will make the most out of whatever opportunity we get when it comes to qualifying and race day.”
 
This season Langdon and his DHL team have been looking for consistency in a tough Top Fuel category. Every race a new team has stepped up to race to a final round or turn on four win lights. The parity and race day consistency is something the DHL team is looking to duplicate.
 
“We have all the skills and experience to qualify well and win on race day,” said Langdon. “We have gotten to the quarterfinals a couple times and the season is still young. Everyone over here is focusing on getting better every run and I have a lot of confidence that we can start making some positive moves this weekend.”
 
Qualifying will start on Friday with one session followed by two sessions on Saturday. Final eliminations for Langdon and the DHL Toyota Top Fuel team will begin at noon ET on Sunday with the race broadcast on FS1 at 6:30 p.m. ET.
 
2019 NHRA Virginia Nationals Highlights: In Funny Car; Qual. No. 5; Beat Tim Wilkerson; Lost to J.R. Todd
 
Last Event Recap 2022 Circle K Four-Wide Nationals: Qual 14; Lost to Clay Millican, Josh Hart
 
Career Stats: 293 events, 289 starts, 312 round wins, 17 wins, 35 finals, 19 No. 1 qualifiers; in Top Fuel: 245 events, 241 starts, 15 wins, 32 finals, 273 round wins, 19 No. 1 qualifiers
 
2022 Results
Winternationals: Qual 8; Lost to Josh Hart
Arizona Nationals: Qual 7; Beat Antron Brown; Lost to Mike Salinas
Gatornationals: Qual 21; DNQ
Las Vegas1: Qual 11; Beat Doug Kalitta and Rob Passey; Lost to Steve Torrence and Brittany Force
Houston: Qual 10; Beat Leah Pruett; Lost to Brittany Force
Charlotte1: Qual 14; Lost to Clay Millican, Josh Hart

Kalitta Motorsports PR

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