Shawn Langdon is sporting a new look this weekend – the 2013 Top Fuel champ is flying the Future Energy Solutions (FES) colors as he races into the season’s penultimate event in search of a positive ending to a challenging season. The 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Season resumes this weekend with the Nevada NHRA Nationals on The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the fifth of six races making up the Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs.
After a season of ups and downs, none of which resulted in a win, just what recipe could make that positive ending? Langdon and his FES Toyota team made some excellent runs in qualifying at the last race, including posting Landgon’s career-best speed, 335.87 mph, but that performance to did not translate to race day. The most obvious ingredients needed for late-season success are round wins and a race win – that would fix a lot, and it would put Langdon and team in excellent position to not only finish the season in the top 10, but also possibly take out some championship contenders to assist teammate Doug Kalitta in his battle to win his first Top Fuel title.
“We’d love to be a really good blocker for Doug,” Langdon said. “It would be incredible to see Doug win this championship, and if we can help, even a little bit, that would be great! We tested between St. Louis and Dallas and made some good progress with some really nice runs at the last race, but we weren’t able to carry that over to race day in Dallas. For us to finish strong, we have to get this Future Energy Solutions Toyota team qualified in the top half of the field and then make the same strong runs we made in qualifying on race day. If we can do that, the rest will take care of itself.”
This story was originally published on October 24, 2023. 
