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| Gary Nastase Photo |
Shawn Langdon for many years had been looking for an opportunity to showcase his driving ability. He got a tremendous opportunity when over the winter Al Anabi, the 2 Time Defending Top Fuel Championship team with both Del Worsham and Larry Dixon left during the off season. Alan Johnson quickly hired the young hot shoe along with defending NHRA Pro Mod Champ Khalid Al Balooshi to complete their line-up for the 2012 full throttle season. At the most recent O'Reilly AutoParts Nationals at Z Max DragWay, Langdon finally scored his long awaited first national event win, defeating 7-time Top Fuel Champion Tony Schumacher and the US Army Dragster in the final round 3.78 to 3.80. The Avon Indiana resident had finally won.
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| Toyota Racing Photo |
Shawn's career began at age 14, when he won the national championship in the NHRA Jr Dragster league. In 2007-08, Shawn captured The Lucas Oil Drag Racing series Super Comp championship, and in 2009 made his Top Fuel debut contending for Rookie Of the Year. Today, Shawn has his best shot that he has ever had at winning a top fuel championship driving for Alan Johnson Racing. I was able to interview this young gun about a multitude of subjects, one of which were his feelings upon winning his ever national event:
"It was definitely a great feeling, the fact that being 87 races into (my career), and the 18th race with Al Anabi; I obviously wanted to win a lot quicker than that" Said the Avon Indiana resident "The biggest thing about the win is that I didn't get a lot of self satisfaction out it, I just felt so happy for the guys on the team. I was so proud to be part of the team." Shawn added
"For Sheikh Khalid, and for Alan to restructure the whole team at the beginning of the year, and with the results not coming quickly as we would've liked. But the guys kept their heads up, never gave up. It was just an overall great team effort"
Driving for one of, if not the most respected tuner in the sport in Alan Johnson, a driver knows that he is in very good company. With Alan tuning for some of drag racing's best in Blaine Johnson, Gary Scelzi, Tony Schumacher, Larry Dixon, and Del Worsham, Shawn immediately knew he was in good company when he received the phone call notifying him of his new ride for 2012:
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| His excellency Sheikh Bin Khalid Al Thani |
"It was a very humbling feeling because I thought of Alan Johnson in the highest regard. All of the drivers that he has had driving for him have been some of the biggest names in the sport" A fact not lost on Shawn "For me to get the phone call from Sheikh Khalid and Alan was humbling because I look at it to be very blessed. Definitely one of the nicest phone calls i've ever gotten. I feel so fortunate to be driving for them"
With just one race down, and 5 to go in the Countdown to the Championship; the win by Langdon and the Al Anabi team showed that peeking at the right time is paramount in winning the Top Fuel Title. The Avon, Indiana native described to me his feelings on the subject:
"At the begining of the year, we made some good runs and it showed signs of improvement but it still wasn't quite there." Said Langdon "Some of the time it would make a good run, it would be a little better than what we thought. Other times it wouldn't. But now I think we have a pretty good handle on the car to get to within a hundredth of what they think it can run" Shawn then said "Even during the Western swing the car would make good runs but it wasn't quite there. But once we got to Indy and Charlotte, the car definitely turned the corner in the right direction"
With races being decided by thousandths of a second, reaction times can be a tremendous difference in determining the winner in drag racing. With Shawn being known as one of the best leavers in the sport, I asked him what makes a driver such as him so good at leaving the start line:
"Thats a million dollar question LOL. I would love to say it takes some special talent. I really think it's just my love and passion for the sport and to be doing what I am doing" Said the passionate Al Anabi Driver "I'm a competitive person, and I will do my best to beat my opponent and not do it half assed. If I'm going to do my best, I am going to give it my all"
The 2012 season in Top Fuel has been one of the most competitive on record with 7 different drivers winning in the 18 events up to this point. With winners such as Steve Torrence and the resurgence of the Kalitta team and Morgan Lucas, Top Fuel is proving to be a dog fight for the 2012 championship. I asked the Silver Al Anabi Top Fuel Pilot what he felt are the reasons why the TF class is so close:
"Everyone is getting smarter, and they're (other teams) are looking at the finer details of the race car. Their not just trying to get the car to go down the track" Said the most recent winner on the circuit "I think it's the multi car teams (IE DSR, Kalitta, Al Anabi, Morgan Lucas Racing) that are helping each other, being able to gather more data to share amongst each other. It's just the way that things are currently going. Those are some big reasons why this year in top fuel has been so close"
As the NHRA teams tested during the winter months of 2011, the attention was riveted on the canopy that Don Schumacher racing debuted at West Palm Beach Florida aboard the US Army dragster. In the months leading into the 6 race "Countdown", the NHRA for months wrestled with when to approve it for use in drag racing. It was given the green light for competition at the US Nationals. Drivers and teams questioned the timing of approving the canopy. I got Shawn's thoughts and feelings on the subject to which he wasn't shy about stating:
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| Don Schumacher Racing Photo |
"Obviously, I do see the safety side of it (running the canopy vs not running it) and the purpose is to keep the driver completely safe" said the well spoken young driver "My biggest thing was that it was approved right before the "Countdown" If all ten teams that are in the countdown wanted to get it today, it wouldn't be available." Shawn then stated "We (Al Anabi) are not letting things such as that distract us from our goals and that is to make our car running as best as we can and what we want to do with our team"
With Shawn getting his first national event win under his belt, he currently sits 3rd in points just one round out of the lead in the championship (Behind Tony Schumacher). Some drivers tend to get a little bit of butterflies as the championship gets underway. But the ever cool Langdon sees it this way:
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| Al Anabi Photo |
"Obviously, we want to treat it just like it's another race. We try not to get too wrapped up and get ourselves nervous" The calm Avon Indiana driver told me "You really want to take it one race at a time, keeping it in the back of your mind that there are only 5 races left, and you try as hard as you can to capture as many bonus points as you are capable of" Shawn added "For me as a driver I try not to get too nervous about it (the countdown). I just try and do my job and let the team do their job as well. Im following their lead because they have been in this situation before (with Larry and Del).I'm letting them show me the way"
Many drivers consider themselves to be of the supersticious sort. Putting on their left boot first, or a glove, or even their head sock. Some drivers even have lucky socks, or gloves that they wear. But Shawn decided to grow a "Playoff beard" that has gotten it's own twitter following. "Fear The Beard" has become the rallying cry for the young driver and so I asked if he was a supersticious person himself:
"I think every driver is supersticious in a way. I myself try not get to overly supersticious just because i've been there and have done it before and then something gets messed up" Said the gregarious Langdon "I don't' want to get too wrapped up. The beard thing was just one of those fun things that grew and people started to talk about it more" Shawn then said "When you win, maybe you should shave it much the way Garlits did (67 US Nationals). But I think we will keep it as is and ride this streak as long as we can"
Photo Credit: Al Anabi Racing, Gary Nastase, Toyota Racing, Raceweek Illustrated, Drag Racing Online, NHRA, and DragRaceCentral.com
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