Alan Johnson Racing and 2013 World Champion driver Shawn Langdon will open the 2015 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season next week at the 55th annual Circle K NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Calif., the team announced today.
Alan Johnson Racing is moving forward into the new season while exploring multiple sponsorship options for 2015 and beyond after unexpectedly losing its funding in the final days of 2014. Longtime Alan Johnson Racing crew chiefs Brian Husen and Jason McCulloch will serve as co-crew chiefs on Langdon’s Alan Johnson Racing dragster. With the separation from Al-Anabi Racing, Khalid alBalooshi is no longer driving for Alan Johnson Racing.
“We enjoyed our six years with Al-Anabi Racing, and we experienced great success,” team owner Alan Johnson said. “We appreciate the opportunity to compete for Al-Anabi Racing and thank Sheikh Khalid (Al-Anabi Racing team owner, His Excellency Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani) for everything he did for us. We had a great run, but now we must move on and focus on the future.
“We are going to Pomona with every intention of winning the Winternationals; we are in discussions with multiple entities about sponsoring our race team, and part of that process is showing the level of excellence at which our team competes. We won the Winternationals last year, and our goal is to repeat as Winternationals champions next weekend.”
Alan Johnson Racing won NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel world championships in 1997, ’98, 2000, ‘10, ’11 and ’13. The team won 42 races in the last six seasons with drivers Larry Dixon, Del Worsham, Langdon and alBalooshi. When the team has additional information regarding its future, it will make another announcement; until that time, team members remain unable to grant any interview requests.
Alan Johnson Racing is located in Brownsburg, Ind. Alan Johnson has won 11 NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel World Championships with five different drivers: Gary Scelzi, Tony Schumacher, Larry Dixon, Del Worsham and Shawn Langdon; he is a 15-time NHRA national champion. For additional information on Alan Johnson Racing and driver Shawn Langdon, please visit www.alanjohnsonracing.com; get Alan Johnson Racing news through its Facebook page or on Twitter: @AJRTopFuel.
This story was originally published on January 29, 2015. 
