BROWNSBURG, Ind. — Labor Day provided another big day for Kalitta Motorsports during a season that has been filled with big days.
Shawn Langdon raced from the No. 1 qualifier spot to win the U.S. Nationals, the signature event of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, for the third time.
Meanwhile, Langdon’s teammate, Doug Kalitta secured the regular season Top Fuel championship and a $150,000 check.
It was Langdon’s fifth win of the season, but his first since May. Doug Kalitta has won four times and Team Kalitta has won the last four races and nine of the 14 races in the regular season. In addition, the Team Kalitta Top Fuel drivers competed in 53 of the 55 rounds of racing that comprised the regular season.
The duo heads into the Countdown to the Championship as the top two-seeded drivers.
“These wins are hard to come by, and the competition’s so good,” Langdon said. “Doug’s been on a pretty good tear lately so it’s nice to get back in the winner’s circle for all my boys, for Brian, Justin, Aaron (Crew Chief Brian Husen, Co-Crew Chiefs Aaron Cave and Justin Groat), all my guys. They’ve been working so hard. We had that great Friday night run, but with the heat on the weekend, we had to back the car up a little bit because the track wasn’t quite there.
“Brian had to really do his homework, and he did a great job; today proved that. My whole team did a fantastic job all day long. After that second round, what we thought was a rear end (failure) was not the rear end. It ended up being the clutch that kinda came apart. The DHL boys came over, and dang near changed everything on it with plenty of time to spare. That goes to show that if you surround yourself with good people, good things can happen.”
While it was the third U.S. Nationals win for Langdon, many of his crew members including Harsin were first-time winners at The Big Go.
“It’s Indy, so it’s exciting for sure,” Langdon said. “For Brian to win his first U.S. Nationals and to step out from working with Alan Johnson the last couple of years and really make his mark makes me happy to be his driver and that I get the opportunity to be a small piece of his success.
“Also, on top of that, a few of the crew guys – it was their first Indy win, so it was special for a lot of people for a lot of reasons. These are hard to come by and the competition is so good. It’s nice to get back in the winner’s circle and it’s always great to win Indy.”
Langdon was particularly complimentary of Harsin.
“Brian is the man. I don’t want to give him too much credit because I don’t want people getting bright ideas with their pocketbook,” Langdon said candidly. “For the rest of my career, I’d love to have Brian as my crew chief. Certain people just get it, and Brian gets it; he’s awesome. He’s a great leader who sets the tone for the team, and it shows with how the car runs. The guys have done such a great job the last couple of years.
“We’ve come close, in a lot of ways; we finished second in the regular season last year and again this year, and we finished second in points last year. I want nothing more than to get Brian his first championship, along with Connie Kalitta and the whole team. It’s just awesome to be a part of this team.”
