Shawn Langdon Las Vegas Saturday report

Langdon claims final Top Fuel spot for Lucas Oil dragster

Shawn Langdon

Photo by: Ted Rossino

LAS VEGAS (Oct. 29) – It required a lot of drama and nail biting, but Shawn Langdon got the Lucas Oil/Speedco Top Fuel dragster into Sunday's eliminations at the Big O Tires NHRA Nationals.

"It was quite an adrenaline rush," Langdon said. "It almost felt like being in eliminations because there are so many cars out there. When you start the session 15th and the conditions are getting better, it puts a lot of stress on you."

Langdon was in and out of the field several times during the course of qualifying on Saturday. He bumped his way in with a 3.897 second lap at 289.01 mph, but Cory

McClenathan still had an opportunity to knock Langdon out of the show.

"The run was a good run, but it hurt itself and shut down near the end," Langdon said. "It threw my head forward so hard, I couldn't see the scoreboard. I wasn't sure if I got in. It felt like it ran good enough to get in, but it shut down early.

"Staying in the show was a good thing for us."

The Lucas Oil dragster's work gets no easier on Sunday morning. Langdon is paired against No. 1 qualifier Del Worsham, who threw down a pass of 3.796 at 322.88 mph.

"We're going to have to step up our game against Del," Langdon said. "We're going to have to make a respectable run tomorrow Hopefully we can go a 3.84 or 3.85 first round tomorrow, so he's going to have to beat us with a good run"