Shawn Langdon was a kid destined for championships and after winning a junior dragster title in 1997, went on to win two sportsman drag racing world championships. The competition for those titles was fast and furious and in the midst of those championship battles, Langdon was un-shakeable.
Little did the competition know that as a kid, his greatest challenge was facing the legends of the sport not in competition, but in the pits, at the rope across the entrance to their pit areas.
“Looking back, I was such a shy kid,” admitted Landon. I can remember guys like Joe Amato, John Force, Cory McClenathan, and Mike Dunn signing my shirt or something and they'd always try to talk to me but I'd just get their autograph and run off. Later on I'd be like, 'Oh man, he was trying to talk to me and I blew him off.' I was just in awe of these guys. I'd freeze up.”