Shawn Langdon didn’t leave the U.S. Nationals with the result he wanted, but the performance of his Applied Innovation/Kalitta Air Careers Top Fuel dragster has him carrying momentum into the NHRA Countdown to the Championship. The 2013 Top Fuel world champion qualified sixth at Indy, blasted to a career-best 340.90 mph during Sunday qualifying, and ended the regular season second in the standings, just 39 points behind Tony Stewart. Now, as the playoffs begin at Maple Grove Raceway, Langdon believes his Kalitta Motorsports team has what it takes to finish the year on top.
“Those years where you’re not even in the top 10 make you appreciate this even more,” Langdon said during NHRA’s Countdown media availability. “A few years ago, we weren’t there, and that was tough. But working for a great man like Connie Kalitta, he gives us all the necessary tools we need to be successful and go out there and contend for wins and championships. With Alan [Johnson] and Brian [Husen] coming over, it’s given Doug and me a great opportunity to go out there and win races. I’m very excited for the opportunity, and I feel like we have a really good chance.”
At Indianapolis, Langdon showed flashes of championship-caliber performance. His 3.717-second blast in Q4 not only marked his career-best speed but also tied a piece of history to his team owner. It came 61 years after Connie Kalitta became the first driver to break 200 mph at the U.S. Nationals in 1964. For Langdon, carrying that legacy is as motivating as it is humbling.
“That’s the kind of history you want to be a part of,” Langdon said. “To run my career-best speed here, in Connie’s backyard, it means a lot. It shows the work this team has been putting in is paying off.”
Despite the record-setting runs, eliminations didn’t go his way. Paired against defending U.S. Nationals winner Clay Millican in round one, both drivers ran into issues, but Millican’s dragster made it further down track. Langdon was quick to shoulder the blame.
“I’m just a little disappointed,” he said after the race. “It made a hard move on me down there; I got out of it. You second guess a lot of things like that. I should have done a better job and gotten it back in there. I had the thing cranked, but it just wasn’t coming back. No excuses; we’ll get it figured out.”
That disappointment has already shifted into determination. Langdon understands how unforgiving the Countdown can be.
“Every little thing, every good thing, every bad thing, every little mistake – it all adds up in the end,” he said. “You might think early in the year that something doesn’t matter, but by the time you get to Indy, you realize it always matters. Every round counts, and now in the Countdown, every point is magnified.”
Langdon speaks from experience. He’s seen how quickly a strong start in the playoffs can set the tone, pointing to his Kalitta Motorsports teammate Doug Kalitta’s 2023 title run.
“The early races in the Countdown are critical,” Langdon explained. “When Doug won his championship, Maple Grove and Charlotte kept him in the fight even when things didn’t go perfect later. That’s a good reminder – if you can get rolling early, it makes all the difference. You’ve got to capitalize on those opportunities.”
For Langdon, the approach is simple: focus on execution and lean on the team around him.
“The crew guys have done a fantastic job giving me a good race car, and I just try not to mess it up,” he said. “I keep the same mentality: they give me a good car, and I’ve got to go do my job. That’s all it comes down to.”
It also comes down to managing the grind of six straight high-pressure weekends. Langdon says the race car is where he finds his peace.
“The quiet time in the Countdown is when you actually get in the car,” he said. “That’s where you can decompress a little bit from everything – media, fans, sponsors. When I put the helmet on, that’s when I lock in. That’s my R&R.”
Maple Grove will mark Langdon’s 303rd career Top Fuel start, and it opens a six-race stretch where the margin for error is razor-thin. He knows it. He also knows his team has shown the kind of speed that can win championships.
“We’re excited about the Countdown,” Langdon said. “We’ve had a very good year as a team. There are a lot of good-running cars out there, but we feel like we’re in a really good position. We’ve got a great opportunity, and we just have to take advantage of it.”
For Langdon, Indy was a reminder of both the heartbreak and the potential of drag racing. His fastest run came at the same track where Connie Kalitta first etched his name in the record books, and while the round-one loss stung, the bigger picture is clear: he’s carrying one of the strongest cars of his career into the Countdown.
“Every round, every point, every detail matters from here on out,” Langdon said. “We’re ready for it.”
This story was originally published on September 8, 2025. 
The post Shawn Langdon Focused on Countdown Run After Career-Best Speed at Indy first appeared on Drag Illustrated.