NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

The week before the start of the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by Peak, most racers took some time off to relax and prepare for a busy schedule that includes upcoming events in Chicago, Epping, Bristol, and Richmond. Shawn Langdon wasn’t one of them.

While the Kalitta Motorsports team was idle, Langdon was at World Wide Technology Raceway near St. Louis, bracket racing his big-block Chevy-powered dragster in the TB Promotions Twin 50s event. Racing against some of the best Sportsman drivers in the country, Langdon more than held his own. In fact, he came home with a massive $50,000 windfall after winning Saturday’s main event. The victory came just a week after Langdon won NHRA’s 1,000th Top Fuel event at zMax Dragway, so to suggest that the 2025 season has so far been a good one would be a huge understatement.

“Yeah, I’ve had a pretty good run lately, but you know how this sport can be,” said Langdon.  “Somedays everything falls your way and somedays it just doesn’t, even when you think you’ve done everything right.”

So far this season, Langdon has made 33 runs in his Kalitta Motorsports dragster at NHRA events, including 15 in eliminations with an impressive 12-3 record in final eliminations. Last week in St. Louis, Langdon made 29 runs during the three-day event.

So, the obvious question is, does success in bracket racing translate to success in Top Fuel, and vice versa?

“It does, but only to a point,” Langdon said. “Winning is winning, and anytime you win, it helps your confidence, but at the same time, the two cars are so different. Every part of the routine from start-up to staging to the finish line is different. I’d like to think that the two [four-wide Top Fuel] wins helped me bracket racing, but the truth is that I didn’t drive very well the first two days when I got to St. Louis. I struggled badly.”

After struggling with his bracket car, Langdon had what he called a “Come to Jesus meeting” with himself and made some significant changes to his program, including changes to the race car, changes to his staging procedure, and even changes to the tint level on his helmet visor.

Those things, as much as anything, might provide some insight as to why Langdon is not only regarded as one of the sport’s best drivers, but also one of the most versatile. He’s not afraid to make wholesale changes when he feels it’s warranted.

“You can either go out there and continue to take a beating or you can do something about it,” he said. “I struggled to be consistent. I was .00 [reaction time] on one run and .020 the next. I figured I had to do something to fix it.”

Driving a Top Fuel dragster requires a combination of skill and bravery, but when it comes to precision, few things compare to big-money bracket races. Typically contested on an eighth-mile, nearly every race is decided by thousandths of a second, and it generally takes nine or 10 rounds to finish the job. In last week’s final, Langdon was nearly perfect off the starting line with a .007 reaction time and finished with a 4.332 on his 4.33 dial-in, a nearly unbeatable combination.

Langdon’s résumé as a top-level NHRA Pro is also rock-solid. He’s got 21 wins in 48 final rounds in both Top Fuel and Funny Car, and he was crowned the 2013 Top Fuel champ as part of the Al-Anabi team. He’s also got a pair of Super Comp world titles and eight Sportsman victories. When asked if other NHRA Pros would benefit from bracket racing experience, he’s hesitant to give a proper answer.

“I’d say no. Don’t go bracket racing,” he said with a wry smile. “I only say that because I don’t necessarily want them to get better, but seriously, when it comes to things like staging and the Christmas Tree, bracket races have it figured out better than anyone. There’s some people racing in Top Fuel right now, and I wonder if they really understand how the starting line works.

“Look, what makes a good driver? It’s the one who makes the fewest mistakes, and the more runs you make, the more you learn and the fewer mistakes you’re going to make, at least in theory," he said.

In this case, the statistics don’t lie as Langdon’s .057 reaction time is among the class leaders in Top Fuel, second only to Justin Ashley’s .044.

With a hefty deposit in his checking account, Langdon’s focus has now returned to the Top Fuel category and his pursuit of a second championship. He enters this week’s Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals as the championship leader, 60 points ahead of Tony Stewart, another driver known for his versatility.

“What I did last week, I’m not sure that helps me this week when I get back into the Top Fuel car because, like I said, they are very different, but I’ve definitely had a good month. I just hope it keeps up,” he said.