American Racing News Vol 1, Issue 2 Issue 7 | Page 16

Shawn Langdon won his third Top Fuel race of the year, and in the process,
he defeated Antron Brown, Doug Kalitta, and Tony Schumacher, who were
ranked first, second, and third entering the event.
The AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals is the second race of the six-race
NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the
Championship.
Langdon powered his Red Fuel/Sandvik
Coromant dragster to a 3.798-second pass at
323.66 mph to defeat eight-time world
champion Tony Schumacher’s 3.783 at
317.49 in his U.S. Army dragster on a holeshot. Langdon notched his 14th career win
and first at Gateway Motorsports Park. The
2013 Top Fuel world champion moved to
fourth in the points. He outlasted reigning
world champ and points leader Antron
Brown, three-time 2016 event winner Doug
Kalitta, and No. 1 qualifier Richie Crampton
en route to the final round.
“We didn’t really have a dominant car in
qualifying, but we just kept picking away at
it,” said Langdon, who also won in Bristol
and Norwalk. “That’s what we’ve been do-

ing since we got those two victories [earlier
this year]. The car has just responded well.
All in all, this was a great team effort. The
whole team did a great job and gave me a
great race car today.”
Schumacher, the most successful Top Fuel
driver in NHRA history, qualified second
and outlasted Chris Karamesines, Phoenix
winner Leah Pritchett, and Sonoma winner
J.R. Todd before meeting Langdon in the
final.
Brown held his grip on
the points lead despite
the early exit and is
followed by Kalitta in
second and Schumacher
in third.