Langdon Charlotte II final report

Lucas Oil's Langdon has first round exit at Charlotte

Shawn Langdon, Lucas Oil/Speedco Dragster

Photo by: Michael C. Johnson

CHARLOTTE (Sept. 18) – Shawn Langdon and the Lucas Oil/Speedco Top Fuel dragster team started the weekend at the O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals in a hole and were never able to dig their way out.

"We kind of set ourselves up," Langdon said. "We ran one of the quickest runs we've had all season, but the air and track are so good, guys are setting records."

Langdon lost to Larry Dixon in the first round on Sunday. Dixon turned in a time of 3.790 seconds at 323.97 mph. Langdon finished in 3.876 seconds at 318.62 mph.

"It's record-setting conditions at this track," Langdon said. "We didn't make a bad run first round – it's one of the fastest mph we've ever ran. We just need to figure something out because we found out that we're further behind than we thought we were."

After using the early Countdown races last year to make a push in the standings, Langdon said the early exit on Sunday was tough to take.

"It's not a good way to start the Countdown," Langdon said. "But you are running the defending champ. We kept him honest. If they messed up at all, we were winning that race."

Next on the schedule for Lucas Oil team is the AAA of Texas NHRA Nationals at Texas Motorplex from Sept. 23-25.