Shawn Langdon was the No. 2 qualifier at the American Rebel light NHRA Four-Wide Nationals; it was his best qualifying effort of the season. During the Friday night qualifying session, Langdon reached the finish line in 3.665 seconds at 333.33 mph. He was No. 1 until his teammate, Doug Kalitta, ran .001 seconds quicker in the next pairing.
Langdon defeated Ida Zetterstrom and Scott Farley in the first round, Brittany Force and Josh Hart in the second round. He advanced to the final round to face Antron Brown, Tony Stewart and Justin Ashley. In the final, Ashley was off the starting line first, but Langdon’s Future Energy Solutions dragster was not to be denied. Langdon drove around Ashley with a 3.714-second pass at 330.63 mph to win the 1,000th Top Fuel race in NHRA history. After the run, NHRA legend Don Garlits, the winner of the first Top Fuel race in 1963, presented the special 1,000th race trophy, a replica of the one Garlits won in 1963, to Langdon. It was Langdon’s second win of the season.
Langdon leaves Charlotte in first place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings. He extended his points lead to 59 points over second-place Tony Stewart.
“My team, man, these guys are badass. I was a little slow on the starting line. I don’t know why, but I had a good race car,” said Langdon. “Connie Kalitta leads the way, and we’re very fortunate to be able to win the race for him. We have Future Energy Solutions on the car this week, but thanks to everyone at Kalitta Air, SoundGear, SealMaster, Dayco and Revchem. Man, Brian (Crew Chief Brian Husen) is such a bad ass. That right there shows why we love having Brian on board. I mean, he’s the backbone of this team. What a great win – the 1,000th Top Fuel race – that’s special; that’s pretty cool.
“I’m so lucky; I race for Connie Kalitta, I have a great team, and my teammates are Doug Kalitta and J.R. Todd,” he added. “It’s just kind of crazy how life brought me here, and crazy that I’m in this position – never in my wildest dreams. It’s very, very cool; I’m very honored to be the 1,000th Top Fuel winner. It’s a great accomplishment in this sport with so much history. Don Garlits and Connie Kalitta both signed the final round time slip – that’s one that will go front and center in the trophy case.”
J.R. Todd was the No. 11 qualifier at the American Rebel Light NHRA Four-Wide Nationals. His best qualifying attempt was his first run of the weekend Friday afternoon when the DHL GR Supra needed just 3.924 seconds to reach the finish line at 325.37 mph.
Todd defeated Dan Wilkerson and Bob Tasca in the first round with a 3.942-second effort at 329.50 mph. He faced Austin Prock, Ron Capps and Hunter Green in the second round. The DHL GR Supra made another solid pass, but Todd left the starting line too early and was disqualified.
Todd moves up two spots and leaves Charlotte in eighth place in the NHRA Funny Car point standings. He trails seventh-place Dan Wilkerson by 21 points and leads ninth-place Cruz Pedregon by seven points.
“The DHL Toyota team had a good rebound from qualifying,” said Todd. “We made a good run in the first round. You gotta be up on the wheel against these guys every round. I was just pushing too hard there in the second round. My foot said ‘go’ before my brain did, and I just screwed up. All in all, the DHL car’s going down the track so we’re making progress.”
Doug Kalitta was the No. 1 qualifier at the American Rebel light NHRA Four-Wide Nationals. Kalitta set the track elapsed time record when he recorded a 3.664-second pass at 333.74 mph during the Friday-night qualifying session. One pairing prior to Kalitta, his teammate, Shawn Langdon, set the low qualifying time, but Kalitta was .001 seconds quicker than Langdon and took his third No. 1 qualifier in five races this season. Kalitta also won his second-straight Mission Foods Challenge Saturday afternoon making Team Kalitta 4-0 in the special event this season.
Kalitta’s opening quad included Tony Stewart, Steve Torrence and Lex June. The Mac Tools Toyota team made the second quickest pass of the pairing – a 3.755-second effort at 328.46 mph. Torrence won the quad, but Stewart joined him in the semifinals after leaving the starting line before Kalitta.
Kalitta leaves Charlotte in fourth place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings. He trails third place Antron Brown by 59 points and leads fifth-place Brittany Force by 29 points.
“I’m not real sure what happened up there, but it wasn’t how we wanted it to go,” said Kalitta. “Super proud of all my guys for having the car running great, but I didn’t get it done today. Good job to Alan, Mac (Crew Chief Alan Johnson, Assistant Crew Chief Mac Savage) and all my guys, and thanks to Mac Tools, SoundGear, SealMaster, Dayco and Revchem. We have a couple weeks off now, and we’ll have another shot at this thing when we get to the next one.”
Team Kalitta will be back in action May 16-18, 2025 at the Gerber Collision and Glass NHRA Route 66 Nationals in Joliet, Ill. For additional information, please visit www.nhra.com. For additional information on Kalitta Motorsports, please visit www.teamkalitta.com.
This story was originally published on April 28, 2025. 
