LAS VEGAS (April 17) -- It's only three and a half hours to the corporate offices of Lucas Oil Products in Corona, Calif., so the familiar red, white, and blue brand has lots of support at this weekend's 11th annual SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals. The good news is the boisterous group will have a top contender to pull for as sophomore pro Shawn Langdon tries for his first NHRA victory in the Lucas Oil/Speedco dragster.
Langdon qualified seventh overall with a steady 3.991 at 308.14 mph. He'll open Sunday's eliminations at 11 a.m. PDT opposite Mike Strasburg, who qualified 10th with a 4.039 at 306.19 mph.
"The track is hot, we made a good run in the morning today," Langdon said. "We'll be able to translate that over to tomorrow because the track conditions will be pretty similar.
Langdon's teammate, Larry Morgan, wasn't as fortunate, missing the cut in his Lucas Oil Ford Mustang Pro Stock car by just .004 seconds.
"We knew it would take a miracle for us to make the field," Morgan said. "We've got something screwed up here. I just need to get home to try and try and fix it. The motor we ran this weekend, it's not even been on the dyno.
"I do have new valves at home and I can't wait to get home and get them in the motor."
After establishing himself as one of the top reaction time specialists in the sport last year, Langdon has fashioned an incredible streak of quick starts in 2010 that has everyone in the class talking. Through the Houston race last weekend, Langdon has left the starting line ahead of all 14 drivers he's faced in eliminations.
Racers realize they need to be sharp to get past the three-time world champion, and Langdon thinks his fortunate run of quick R/Ts can only help him on race day.
"Just being able to get the car from A to B is going to be important tomorrow," Langdon said. "It's going to be tricky, and a real test for a driver."
Sixth in the points, Langdon wants to keep his Lucas Oil/Speedco dragster running with the top teams in the Full Throttle standings. Going rounds on Sunday will certainly help him reach that goal.
