POMONA — Veteran Top Fuel drag racer Shawn Langdon made big gains two weekends ago in Gainesville, Fla.

His victory at the Gatornationals, the opening event of 20 on this year’s National Hot Rod Association schedule, was Langdon’s first win on the circuit since 2020. Now the Mira Loma native is back in his home area aiming to maintain his hot streak when he competes in this weekend’s NHRA Winternationals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip.

Langdon not only won at Gainesville, he also emerged from the rain-delayed Saturday qualifying as the top-seeded driver. In the fourth qualifying session, Langdon leapfrogged Steve Torrence with a run of 3.682 seconds and a top speed of 334.15 mph. Langdon beat Billy Torrence, Steve’s father, in Sunday’s elimination final showdown.

Langdon and his team, headed by new crew chief Brian Husen and new assistant crew chief Justin Groat, were hitting on all cylinders. The only hiccup all weekend came when Langdon smoked his tires in his first qualifying run Saturday. His dragster was the first after the rain delay.

On Sunday, his times for his four winning elimination rounds were 3.690, 3.709, 3.702, and 3.711. Now that’s consistency.

“We had a good car at times the last couple of years,” Langdon said, “but with Brian and Justin coming in along with a couple of other guys and just rearranging things, the changes have shown a great reward so far.”

Top Fuel driver Shawn Langdon signifies he was No. 1 in qualifying while holding the Wally trophy, named after NHRA founder Wally Parks, for his victory at the NHRA Gatornationals on March 10, 2024, in Gainesville, Fla. (Photo courtesy of NHRA)

Langdon, who now lives in Indianapolis, comes into Pomona atop the Top Fuel standings with a 39-point lead over Steve Torrence.

Langdon is hardly an unknown in drag racing. The 41-year-old has been competing in the NHRA’s top circuit since 2009. He won seven times in 2013 to claim the Top Fuel national championship. (The NHRA prefers to call them world championships despite no international competition.)

Overall, Langdon has won 18 event titles in Top Fuel and two in Funny Car. He has 19 runner-up finishes and 19 times has been the top qualifier.

Top Fuel driver Shawn Langdon, from Mira Loma, hits the throttle on his 11,000 hp dragster during the opening round of qualifying at the rescheduled NHRA Winternationals on July 30, 2021, at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Mira Loma, located in west Riverside County, is only about 20 miles from Pomona. Langdon’s father Chad, who competed in amateur drag racing, regularly took his young son to the Pomona dragstrip. Among the legends young Shawn saw race was Connie Kalitta, who is now his boss. He owns Kalitta Motorsports, and Langdon is one of the team’s three drivers. The others are Doug Kalitta, Connie’s nephew and the defending Top Fuel national champion, and J.R. Todd, the Funny Car winner at Gainesville.

When teammates notch wins in the two major categories at the same event, it’s called a double-up. This was the first double-up for Kalitta Motorsports.

If the same two happen to score another double-up at the In-N-Out track, it could be called a double-double.

Connie Kalitta, 86, raced from 1950 through the 1990s. In 1964, he was the first driver to exceed 200 mph in a quarter mile. His main business venture is Kalitta Air, a cargo airline based in Michigan.

Gainesville was doubly special for Kalitta Motorsports. In addition to the double-up, the late Scott Kalitta, Connie’s son, was among the inductees into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame at a banquet on the Thursday night of the Gatornationals. Scott was killed in a horrific crash in 2008 at Englishtown, N.J. His dragster exploded at the finish line and continued on through the shutdown portion of the track.

After that, the NHRA shortened drag racing tracks by 320 feet from a quarter mile to 1,000 feet as a safety precaution. Scott Kalitta was 46 when he died.

Among those attending the banquet were Scott Kalitta’s sons and his wife Kathy. It is believed that was her first drag racing event since the crash.

“It was really cool for Scott’s family to be there,” Langdon said during a phone interview. “Also, Connie was given a lifetime achievement award.”

Asked about Connie Kalitta’s role with his team, Langdon quipped, “For one thing, he opens the checkbook. No, he is pretty involved. The team sort of runs itself, but Connie is made aware of everything that is going on.”

Langdon, as a youngster, was involved in two sports – drag racing and baseball. He won a national junior title in drag racing in 1997 at age 14. He was a starting pitcher for the Mira Loma High varsity as a junior and senior.

“I got burned out on baseball,” he said. “Little League, travel teams, summer leagues, it was just too much.”

So drag racing won out and he will be in the spotlight at the Winternationals, which get underway in earnest Friday.

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This year’s Winternationals began with sportsman’s class and other amateur racing Thursday. There will be more of the same Friday before Pro Stock, Funny Car and Top Fuel qualifying gets underway at 4:30 p.m.

Qualifying continues Saturday, with the first session of pro-class rounds beginning at 11:30 a.m. The second session begins at 2 p.m. Sunday’s final-round pro eliminations begin at 11 a.m.

NHRA WINTERNATIONALS

Where: In-N-Out Pomona Dragstrip

Friday: Pro Stock, Funny Car, Top Fuel qualifying, 4:30 p.m.

Saturday: Pro Stock, Funny Car, Top Fuel qualifying, 11:30 and 2 p.m.

Sunday: Elimination finals, 11 a.m.

TV: Qualifying, 6:30 p.m. Saturday and 9:30 a.m. Sunday; Finals, 4 p.m. (all tape-delayed on FS1)