For a baseball guy, it’s a perfect description for the third race of the playoffs: “it’s anybody’s ballgame.” The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs resumes Sept. 27-29, 2024 at the NHRA Midwest Nationals in Madison, Ill., the third of six playoff races.
Shawn Langdon played a lot of baseball and passed on a career in America’s pastime to focus on his passion: drag racing. His assessment after the first two races is perfect. The top-four Top Fuel drivers are separated by just 67 points, and second through fourth are separated by only 14 points. Antron Brown leads second-place Justin Ashley by 53 points with Langdon nine points back in third followed by Doug Kalitta just five points behind Langdon.
“We’ve done ok so far,” Langdon said. “We went to the final at the first (Countdown) race and are still third in points so we’re still in contention – we’re good so far. Super excited to have the opportunity to race with the best of the best in NHRA Drag Racing. We don’t really need to change anything – we just need to start winning races again. We don’t have any issues – the Kalitta Air Careers car is running well. We just have to win.”
Langdon won two races early in the season, and since that time, he has five runner-up finishes. He’s been in the top-three in points all season and is a legitimate threat to win at any time. The 2013 NHRA Top Fuel champion has two St. Louis wins in three final-round appearances, and he knows winning championships requires winning races. The points are tight – a win this weekend could shake things up…in a good way.
“It’s anybody’s ballgame,” Langdon said. “It’s not over till Pomona so we’re going to St. Louis, try to do the best we can and try to make up some ground. It’s nice going to a track like St. Louis that does a nice job promoting their race and filling the stands. Racing in front of full grandstands is always good.”
This story was originally published on September 25, 2024. 
