Langdon Indianapolis Sunday report

Langdon punches ticket to playoffs by qualifying 16th at Indy

Shawn Langdon, Lucas Oil/Speedco Dragster

Photo by: Michael C. Johnson

INDIANAPOLIS (Sept. 4) – Shawn Langdon got a huge load off his mind on Sunday at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals when he locked the Lucas Oil/Speedco dragster into the Countdown to the Championship by qualifying for Monday's eliminations.

"It's nice to sign your name on that board and know that you're going to have a chance to run for the championship," Langdon said. "We have a chance…that's all a driver can ask for."

Cooler weather blew over Lucas Oil Raceway on Sunday morning and the cloud cover helped Langdon get his car into the No. 16 spot in the field.

"The good news is we got in, the bad news is we're on the bump," Langdon said. "We're going to have to run the fastest car tomorrow.

"We're going to do the best we can and try to put up a respectable run. Race day is going to have the best weather conditions of the weekend. So who knows what is going to happen out there."

Langdon's best pass was a 3.982 second lap at 299.00 mph. He goes up against Antron Brown in the first round.

"We've struggled through most of the weekend," Langdon said. "We've been dropping holes (cylinders) and smoking tires. We've not really found our way yet."

Langdon's Lucas Oil teammate Larry Morgan wasn't as fortunate in Pro Stock. Morgan's Lucas Oil Ford Mustang did not qualify for Monday's eliminations after putting up an 18th best time of 6.688 seconds at 206.16 mph during the weekend.

Monday's eliminations get under way at 11 a.m. EDT from Lucas Oil Raceway.