As the No. 8 qualifier, Langdon went first, getting a great jump on opponent Doug Kalitta when he left the starting line with a.063-second reaction time to Kalitta's .090-second start. But a few feet later his Lucas Oil/Dixie Chopper dragster was lost in a cloud of tire smoke, while Kalitta streaked away for the win in 3.839 seconds at 313.66 mph.

"We just had too much power," Langdon said. "The track was so good yesterday and we were going for it. As you saw, a lot of people did the same thing so it wasn't just us over-estimating what it would hold. But it's still very, very disappointing to lose in Round 1 when we're fighting with so much on the line right now.

"All you can do is regroup, take a few days off, and get ready for Las Vegas. Having four races in a row really taxes the guys and I know we're all tired. I know we'll recover but right now this doesn't feel so great."

Immediately after Langdon's loss, Lucas took his turn and did exactly the same thing as his teammate, leaving ahead of Bobby Lagana Jr. but almost immediately spinning his tires off the launch pad. Lagana's 3.901 at 303.71 mph was enough to put Lucas' GEICO Powersports/Lucas Oil dragster on the trailer.

"The championships will be out of reach for both of us by the end of the day so we'll shift gears and try for the best finish possible," Lucas conceded. "We'll start working on stuff for next year. At this point in the Countdown, a first-round loss is too much to overcome. It's a bummer to come off the high of winning last weekend to this.

"We're going to set both cars on 'kill' and try to upset everyone else's plans in Las Vegas and Pomona (Calif.). We want to bring both trophies back to our camp and go into the off-season on a high note."

The tour now has two weekends off before the ninth annual Las Vegas NHRA Nationals, which run from Oct. 29-Nov. 1 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Courtesy of Rob Geiger