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NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway; Las Vegas Post-Event Wrap-Up
Top Fuel Runner Up: Qualifying: Shawn Langdon was the No. 3 qualifier at the Dodge NHRA Nevada Nationals. His best attempt came during the second Friday qualifying session when he made a 3.715-second pass at 336.57 mph. Eliminations: Langdon, who entered the race third in points, defeated Kelly Harper in the first round to set up a quarterfinal matchup with second-place Justin Ashley, but that first-round win was intense. Both cars smoked the tires, and the race turned into a battle of which driver could pedal his car most efficiently. Both drivers pedaled multiple times, but it was Langdon who reached the finish line first in a stunning opening round. In the quarterfinals, Ashley was off the starting line first, but Langdon's 3.738-second effort at 333.33 mph allowed the 2013 Top Fuel champion to drive around Ashley and get the win setting up a semifinal matchup with the points leader, his teammate Doug Kalitta. A Kalitta win would give the 2023 champion a chance to clinch his second Top Fuel title with a race win, but Langdon and his Kalitta Air 25th Anniversary Toyota team had other ideas. Kalitta was off the starting line first, but Langdon drove around him with a 3.721-second pass at 334.24 mph to beat Kalitta's 3.758 at 336.15 mph. Langdon's margin of victory was .0214 seconds. Langdon raced Brittany Force in the final round and was off the starting line first, but Force won by 17 thousandths of a second with a 3.704-second run at 337.33 mph to Langdon's 3.727-second pass at 333.91 mph. Unofficial Point Standings: Langdon leaves Las Vegas in second place in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings. He trails the points leader, his teammate Doug Kalitta, by 144 points and leads third-place Justin Ashley by 19 points with one race remaining in the season. Langdon on Las Vegas: "It was a great racing day. We had a good qualifying spot. We didn't have a lot of successful qualifying runs, but we had a lot of 'shows improvement early' runs. The car wanted to run fast; we just had to get everything right. First round did throw us a curveball, though; we were able to have a little bit of luck and make it through that. But from then on out, we had very fast race car. From a statistical standpoint and from an avid fan standpoint, the second round against Justin (Ashley) was pretty bad ass. I was kind of in a different zone today, so it didn't really dawn on me until after the run how big that round was, but regardless, I was just trying to do my job. "I was a little off on the tree today for whatever reason, but it worked; the Kalitta Air Careers car saved my butt. The semifinal win over Doug is why we have a completely outside shot at the championship, but still, we're going to Pomona with that shot. We'll go there with the same mentality we've had the last couple of races: we just need to win, and we have the car to do it. It's just a matter of everything falling into place, but the main objective is the Kalitta cars finishing one-two in points." Crew Chief Brian Husen on defeating Doug Kalitta in the semifinals: "You're racing the best car in the Countdown right now, and they've been tough to beat. It was time for somebody to stop them from going to another final so it might as well have been us. Hopefully we can go to Pomona, finish one-two in points and have a hell of a party."
Doug Kalitta, Mac Tools Top Fuel Dragster Qualifying: Doug Kalitta was the No. 2 qualifier at the Dodge NHRA Nevada Nationals. In Friday's second qualifying round, Kalitta reached the finish line in 3.711 seconds at 337.24 mph. It was his 16th top-four qualifying effort, including eight No. 1 qualifiers, in the season's 19 races to date. Eliminations: Kalitta defeated Rob Passey, had a bye in the second round with fewer than 16 cars in the field and raced his teammate, Shawn Langdon, in the semifinals. It was a monumental matchup, and it did not disappoint. Kalitta was off the starting line first and led the early part of the round, but Langdon's Kalitta Air 25th Anniversary car was stronger, and Langdon drove around his teammate to take the round win. Langdon's 3.721-second pass at 334.24 mph was good enough to beat Kalitta's 3.757-second run at 336.15 mph by .0214 seconds. With Kalitta's wins in the last two races, his semifinal loss ended a 10-round win streak and his streak of four-straight final rounds. Had Kalitta won today's race, he could have clinched the 2025 NHRA Top Fuel championship, but with the semifinal loss, he will have to wait two weeks to hopefully wrap up his second-career championship at the season's final race. Unofficial Point Standings: Kalitta remains first in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings. He leads his teammate, second-place Shawn Langdon, by 144 points entering the season's final race. Kalitta on Las Vegas: "The ladder definitely set up nicely for us starting the day, but Shawn made a really good run in the semis and got around us. After a couple of race wins and halfway through this one, it's been nice seeing those win lights come on. It was just one of those deals. My guys are really doing a hell of a job, and we had Mac Tools, Revchem, Dayco and all our friends from them out here so we had a lot of support - that's definitely a big part of it. "We have one more race to go, and we'll go into it in a really good position. It's definitely the best position I've ever been in going into Pomona, but we didn't get enough points to clinch it here, so we still have some work to do."
J.R. Todd, DHL Funny Car Qualifying: J.R. Todd was the No. 8 qualifier at Dodge NHRA Nevada Nationals. Like his teammates, he made his best qualifying attempt in the second session Friday afternoon when he reached the finish line in 3.930 seconds at 329.10 mph. Eliminations: Todd defeated Alexis DeJoria before losing to Austin Prock by .0428 seconds in the second round. Despite the quarterfinal loss, Todd and the DHL GR Supra team made two consistent race day runs showing the kind of consistency on which they've been working. Todd's first-round run was a 3.926-second effort at 328.14 mph, and his losing second-round effort was a 3.944-second pass at 329.10 mph. Unofficial Point Standings: Todd leaves Las Vegas in 11th place in the NHRA Funny Car point standings. He trails 10th-place Bob Tasca by 29 points and leads 12th-place Alexis DeJoria by six points with one race remaining in the season. Todd on Las Vegas: "It was nice to make some good runs on race day. In the second round against Prock, we just ended up on the wrong end of a good drag race. Thanks to DHL, Dayco, SealMaster and Revchem for supporting us and the Yella Fellas for all the work they do every week. We're testing tomorrow so hoping we can finish strong at Pomona." Next Race: Team Kalitta will be back in action Nov. 14-17 at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif. For additional information, please visit www.nhra.com. For additional information on Kalitta Motorsports, please visit www.teamkalitta.com.
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