Life is pretty good in the Kalitta Air Careers pit these days. The team is performing at a high level, but in one type of races, Shawn Langdon and team are racing at an even higher level of performance. The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Season resumes May 31-June 2, 2024 at the NHRA New England Nationals in Epping, N.H.
In the season’s first six races, Langdon and the Kalitta Air Careers team have two wins in three final-round appearances, including a runner-up showing two weeks ago, and are second in points entering the New England Nationals. In two-wide races only, which comprise the remainder of the 2024 season, Langdon has two wins in three final rounds in the first four races. That bodes well for the 2013 NHRA Top Fuel champion, first-year crew chief Brian Husen and the rest of the team.
“It’s absolutely a great feeling,” Langdon said. “All the credit to (Team Owner) Connie Kalitta, (General Manager) Chad Head, everybody at Kalitta Air, Kalitta Motorsports, Brian Husen – the entire team and all our partners like Revchem, Future Energy Solutions and Toyota. They’ve given us all the tools we need to have the success we’ve had in 2024. Brian’s exceeded everybody’s expectations, and the team is doing a great job. I feel like I’m just holding on trying to do my job.”
That seems to be the mentality for everyone: do your job to the best of your abilities, and hopefully, the rest will take care of itself. Langdon has never won at New England Dragway, but perhaps this weekend’s race will be his time.
“I’d obviously love to get the win this weekend and win my first race in New Hampshire, but our goal is the same as always: make good, strong runs, qualify well and do our best to keep lane choice on race day. We definitely expect the car to continue making good runs like it’s done all season, and we’re excited to get up there. With the weather forecast, we should have some really good air and be able to make a lot of power.”
When Langdon advanced to the semifinals in Chicago two weeks ago, he earned a spot in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge this weekend. During Saturday’s Epping qualifying sessions, the drivers who reached the semifinals in Joliet, Ill., will re-run the semifinals and final earning additional purse and championship bonus points giving an energetic fan base another wrinkle for Saturday afternoon.
“They have a great fan base in Epping – those New England fans love NHRA Drag Racing,” Langdon added. “It’s nice, as a driver, when you know the fans are excited to watch us race – everyone that works in this sport, we all love what we do. When it feels like the fans love the sport almost as much as we do, that makes us really want to put on a great show for them.”
This story was originally published on May 30, 2024. 
