The Valley of the Sun has been a hot spot for Shawn Langdon.
The veteran Top Fuel driver won the Arizona Nationals for the second year in a row Sunday, clocking a blistering 3.724-second elapsed time at 330.39 to edge his Kalitta Motorsports teammate Doug Kalitta. Kalitta was the runner-up at 3.770, 325.53, at Firebird Motorsports Park.
This was Langdon’s 20th career national event win – his 18th in Top Fuel to go along with his two nitro Funny Car Wallys. Langdon also won the 2013 NHRA Top Fuel championship.
“This started about a year ago when we were able to get the win here,” Langdon said. “Since then, we have been on a runner-up streak. That’s not a horrible problem, but when you have high expectations with your team it is a problem that you’re not getting it done on race day. At the end of last year, we lost a couple of final rounds various ways, then we go to Gainesville a couple of weeks ago and lose a good race to Antron (Brown in the finals).
“Now, we are at the point that we have a little bit of that attitude in the final where we are not going to get outrun. I have the attitude that I’m not going to (get beat) on the tree and hope the track will hold the tune-up because we are not going to get beat. We kind of threw the kitchen sink at it. Brian said he wanted it to go in the low 3.70s, and I told him I would try and be 50 on the tree, and it is neat when a plan comes together.”
A runner-up finish at the season-opening Gatornationals in Gainesville, Florida, on March 9 and the win in Phoenix vaulted Langdon to the top of the season points standings, 40 points in front of Brown.
Langdon had been runner-up in six consecutive final rounds before Sunday.
“It was a great day for Team Kalitta. We accomplished our goal of getting both Top Fuel cars in the final, but obviously there’s some pressure because you don’t want to be the weak link,” Langdon said. “Obviously, regardless of the outcome, it’s a good day for Kalitta Motorsports, Kalitta Air Careers, Dayco, Revchem, SealMaster and Connie Kalitta. He had a smile on his face, and at the end of the day, that’s something we always want to see.
“We appreciate everybody coming today. The sold-out crowd speaks volumes about all the great fans here in Arizona. We thank you guys very much. I do have to give a shout out to our clutch guy Jeff (Leister). He had a health scare coming back from Gainesville, so hopefully he’s watching and has a smile on his face. This Wally’s for you, Jeff. We miss you and can’t wait for you to come back.”
On Sunday, Langdon ousted Scott Palmer, Justin Ashley, Brittany Force, and then Kalitta. A year ago, Langdon finished fourth in the points standings.
“It was a tough situation for me personally,” Langdon said about last year’s points finish. “You try not to hang your hat on that. That’s always in the shoulda, coulda, wouldas, and that stuff will just eat you alive for the rest of your life. At that point, last year is last year and take everything I can and learn from it. Obviously, now this is a new year, and we have the motivation that we have a championship-caliber team, championship-caliber car. It is really neat to be a driver and feel like ‘don’t be the weak link, don’t screw this up because this such a great opportunity with a great team.’”
It was quite the weekend for Langdon and his Kalitta Motorsports team. He also won the first Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge of the season Saturday in a rematch of the semifinals from the season-opening race in Gainesville, Florida.
Langdon defeated Jasmine Salinas in the semifinal rematch, then took out Tony Stewart to claim the title. That victory was worth bonus money and bonus points that will be applied when the Countdown to the Championship NHRA playoffs begin in September.
Langdon is the first Top Fuel driver to win back-to-back Phoenix titles since Leah Pruett accomplished the feat in 2016-17. Langdon also made it to the final round in Phoenix in 2023, but lost to Justin Ashley.
“They need to have 20 races here because I feel like we would have a chance at the championship,” Langdon said with a laugh. “We love coming here.”
Langdon praised the work Husen has done with his team.
“From dating back to the Al-Anabi days when I drove over there, Brian was the crew chief on the car under AJ (Alan Johnson) and we honestly just clicked from Day 1,” Langdon said. “I feel like how I view things and how I view my mentality on race day and how I view dealing with the team and people, we agree on so many things. That’s nice to have because I have good and bad days, and he has good and bad days. We feed off each other. I may be having a good day, and he may be a little behind and he’s relying on me, and there are days when I may be struggling and I’m relying on the car.
“We just feed so good off each other. He’s a great leader. He’s a guy who can come into a room and say a couple of things and it is motivational. It creates that spark, and I kind of felt like for a few years we just didn’t have that spark with the team. Brian came in and everybody’s attitudes changed, and the chemistry changed. We have a great team, and it feels really good.”
