SHAWN LANGDON'S RETURN TO TOP FUEL WAS STRONG IN A STRANGE SEASON

by Tracy Renck    Sat, 2020-12-05 08:58

 

In 2020 the NHRA season was a roller-coaster ride because of the COVID-19 pandemic canceling races.

Former world champion Shawn Langdon, who pilots the DHL Kalitta Air Top Fuel dragster, got through the abbreviated season that saw him finish sixth in the points standings, highlighted by him winning the U.S. Nationals.

“For me winning the U.S. National this year was more gratifying for me based on the circumstances and for my team,” Langdon said. “It is awesome to win the U.S. Nationals and I have won it before, but it was different this year. In 2017 I raced with Connie (Kalitta) but the one regret that I had was leaving that team and not being able to win with Connie. We had a couple runners-up.

“I looked back on that even during the two seasons in Funny Car, thinking I would love to have the chance to race with Connie again because I would love to be able to share a winner’s circle with him. I was proud to be in the winner’s circle with Connie at Indy and I was really more proud for my team, my guys. They work so hard and dealing with all the stuff that went on this year.”

Langdon, who won an NHRA Top Fuel world championship in 2013, acknowledged there was a fast adjustment to returning to a dragster after the two previous seasons in a Funny Car.

“The first couple of runs in testing I had to get re-acclimated but by Pomona I was really comfortable again,” Langdon said. “You get used to the speed and how to steer it pretty quickly. There were some things I had to focus on coming back since driving the Funny Car was so different. Once I got out of testing and got to Pomona I felt fine.  

“Then we had a couple of months off from the Top Fuel (dragster), but I was out racing all the time during the time we had off at bracket races to keep myself sharp. The first couple of races in Indy were kind of like testing again. Once again after a couple of runs you got used to the speed and started feeling normal.”

Like many racers, Langdon saw things unfold in 2020 that have never happened before.

“I think a lot of the challenges that presented themselves through the pandemic caused major adjustments throughout the entire sport,” said Langdon about the season. “You saw people losing sponsors and teams shutting down. The whole sport was forced to survive major adjustments from changing the payouts to shortening races. It was tough for everybody. Fortunately, we work for a great man, Connie Kalitta, and he kept everybody employed. We have great sponsors and partners that supported us. They stuck with us, so we were able to keep racing. I don’t know if there were any major surprises other than there were just a lot of challenges that we had to work around.”

After a season like no other Langdon is ready to hit the reset button for 2021.

 

 

“I think a little bit of away time is a good thing right now for me personally,” he said. “It was a tough year. I was very glad that we got back out there racing. I think a little bit of downtime is a good thing. It will give everyone some time to regroup and refocus to get everything right so we can hopefully get back to some kind of normal for 2021.”

This offseason is much different than years past for racers. Usually, they have minimal downtime and are back on the track, but that isn’t the case for 2021.

“In the past, we would have two and a half months off, but it really isn’t a solid two and a half months,” Langdon said. “You have Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s so it really isn’t much of an offseason at all. I think right now having the extra couple of months off we are able to allow the teams to spend more time with their families as well as allow the teams to get better organized for the beginning of the year. It is always a mad thrash the last couple of weeks leading up to the start of the season.”

Although the 2021 NHRA season doesn’t begin until the Amalie Motor Oil Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla., March 11-14, Langdon will not have any problems occupying his time.

“I am getting motors put in different cars,” Langdon said. “I am getting cars rewired. I am swapping motors from cars to cars. I have a lot of things to keep me busy on the bracket racing side of things. I am getting my nephew a new junior dragster. I am going to help get that race car ready for him. I want to get ready for some of the bracket races on the West Coast at the start of the year. I will be spending some time in Indy and some time in California. I won’t not be busy, I will promise you that.”

As Langdon looked at the upcoming 2021 slate, he has a simple approach.

“It is the standard goal I have every year. I just want to go out there and compete. I want to compete for a championship. I want to win races. That is my goal every year. I have team goals. I want to get my team in the winner’s circle and get this DHL team a championship.”

 

 

 
Categories: 
:::::: News ::::::