Go Shawn! (NHRA)

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He's a good kid, hope he wins:

Shawn Langdon ready to finish off Top Fuel season at home track in Pomona
By: Autoweek Staff on November 6, 2013

Southern Californian Shawn Langdon has dreamed about this moment from the time he first grabbed the controls of a 5-hp junior dragster as a youngster. A lifelong racer, the 31-year-old Mira Loma native is in position to earn his first Top Fuel world championship title this weekend at the Auto Club NHRA Finals.


Langdon, who has won championships in the NHRA Summit Racing Jr. Drag Racing League and the NHRA Lucas Oil Series during his rise up the NHRA ranks, will add the first professional title to his resume with a successful weekend at tradition-rich Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. He leads defending champ Antron Brown by 102 points as teams prepare for the final race of the season and the last of six playoff races in the Countdown to the Championship.


Brandon Bernstein (Top Fuel), Cruz Pedregon (Funny Car), Allen Johnson (Pro Stock), and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are the defending event winners of the NHRA season finale that will once again be televised nationally on ESPN2 and ESPN2HD.


If he’s successful, Langdon would become the fifth different driver to win a series title driving for team manager Alan Johnson.


All stats, records and accomplishments aside, Langdon cherishes the opportunity to secure the title at Pomona.


“Well, it would mean everything to me to be able to end the year at Pomona with a championship just for the fact that’s where I grew up, racing junior dragsters, growing up, being a big fan of the sport, watching my idols race there,” said Langdon, who won the season-opening NHRA Winternationals at Pomona in February. “Pomona to me is a special place. When I look at the season, Pomona to me is Indy, it’s the biggest race of the year, that’s because where I grew up racing, junior dragsters there, racing in the Lucas Oil Series, having a lot of friends and family out there.”


Langdon leads the 8,000-hp class in nearly every statistical category, winning six times in nine final-round appearances, and capturing seven No. 1 qualifying positions. He led the series standings after half of the races during the season. After running the table in impressive fashion at the prestigious Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis to close the regular season, Langdon entered the Countdown playoffs as the top seed and was strong throughout, winning at Reading, Pa. and posting a runner-up finish in Dallas. In Las Vegas two weeks ago, he took advantage of early round exits by several of his top challengers and advanced to the semifinals and extended his series lead to more than five rounds of racing.


“When you grow up as a kid, wanting to be a professional drag racer, you envision putting yourself in championship scenarios in the biggest pressure moments,” Langdon said. “What really makes or breaks a driver is being able to perform under the biggest pressure moments. I think we’re in it right now.”


There are many scenarios in which Langdon could clinch the championship title, given qualifying bonus points and qualifying positions; however, if he wins the first round of eliminations on Sunday, he will lock out all of his pursuers and take the title. He says he has enjoyed the battle this season, in a class that many historians are saying is perhaps the most competitive in NHRA hist

ory.



Read more: Shawn Langdon ready to finish off Top Fuel season at home track in Pomona - Autoweek