When Shawn Langdon was a kid attending Sky Country Elementary in Mira Loma, Calif., he used to
doodle Top Fuel dragsters on his book covers and dream about driving 8,000-horsepower rails down a
drag strip at 320 mph.
This year that dream has become reality for the 26-year-old driver of the Lucas Oil/Dixie Chopper
dragster and the California native is thrilled to be turning his attention to Infineon Raceway, one
of the racetracks he used to picture in his high-horsepower imagination.
"When you're not old enough to race for real you end up doing it in your head and I used to think
about Sonoma all the time," Langdon said. "It's funny because it's just about a hometown race now
with all the travelling we do around the country but when I was a kid, Sonoma seemed so far away.
It was one of those places that you would have done anything to see."
Although this will be Langdon's first visit to the facility in a Top Fuel car, he has raced there
before in both Super Comp and Super Gas. In fact, his past performances in the wine country helped
him win back-to-back world titles in the cutthroat Super Comp category.
"It's a track where I feel extremely comfortable," Langdon said. "And it's Bruton Smith-owned
facility, so you know everything there is first-class. One thing about Bruton's tracks is they're
always well run and taken care of. Plus, they really look out for the racers. That's always been
the case there.
"Georgia Seipel has been the drag race manager there for years and she's a very close friend of our
family so that makes it even better. It wouldn't hurt my feelings at all if we raced there three or
four times a year."
Langdon has shined in his rookie campaign, racing to five semifinal appearances and proving himself
to be very adept at the starting line. About the only thing missing on his resume is a win,
something he'd love to collect this weekend at the Fram-Autolite NHRA Nationals.
"I've dreamed about driving a dragster for as long as I can remember," Langdon said. "I've also
dreamed about winning a Wally (trophy). If we could get it done in Sonoma it would be beyond
anything I could ever imagine.
"The good thing is we've proven we have a car fully capable of winning any race we enter. It's not
a matter of 'if' it's a matter of 'when' it's going to happen."
