Shawn Langdon’s Kalitta Air 25th Anniversary team continued to show championship form this weekend at the Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals, advancing to the semifinals and extending their points lead in Top Fuel with just a handful of races left in the regular season.
Langdon qualified tenth after a challenging set of runs during qualifying, with his best effort coming in the heat of Saturday afternoon. But once Sunday arrived, the Kalitta Motorsports driver flipped the switch.
In the opening round, Langdon pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the event, knocking off No. 1 qualifier Brittany Force. With fewer than 16 cars in the field, he earned a bye run in the second round and moved into the semifinals to face reigning world champion Antron Brown.
Langdon left first and was out in front until his 12,000-horsepower machine hazed the tires. Brown also smoked the tires but was slightly further down the track. Langdon pedaled and gave chase, but Brown reached the finish line first to end Langdon’s bid for back-to-back wins after taking home the W last weekend.
“Brian and Aaron have been doing a great job tuning the car lately, and it’s been really good,” said Langdon, referring to crew chief Brian Husen and co-crew chief Aaron Cave. “The Kalitta Air 25th Anniversary Toyota team just missed it in the semifinals. We extended our points lead so we’re in a great position there; we’re looking forward to getting to Brainerd.”
Langdon now holds a 48-point advantage over second-place Tony Stewart as the regular season inches closer to the Countdown to the Championship.
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series returns August 15–17 at Brainerd International Raceway for the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals.
This story was originally published on July 27, 2025. 
