Robert Hight (left) and Tommy Johnson Jr. pull the chutes at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.  (Ron Lewis photo)

NHRA Winternationals at Pomona

Langdon, Hagan, Line take first 2015 wins

Results compiled by Kay Burk
Photos by Ron Lewis, Tim Marshall and Joel Gelfand

(Ron Lewis photo)

TOP FUEL

Shawn Langdon scored the Top Fuel victory in dramatic fashion by edging rival Antron Brown's Matco Tools dragster at the finish line. The 2013 champ, who entered this race without a full time sponsor but had support from Food Network star Guy Fieri during the weekend, powered his Knuckle Sandwich/AJPE dragster to a time of 3.799 at 309.91 to finish in front of Brown, whose machine stopped the clocks in 3.804 at 310.70.

It was Langdon’s second Winternationals win and the 10th victory of his career. The win gave the team much needed momentum after their sponsor Al-Anabi Racing from the country of Qatar pulled funding from the team just weeks before the season opener.

“There are things that happen in life and then there are moments when things just fall into place,” said Langdon, the event’s No. 1 qualifier, who posted the quickest time in category history with a 3.700-second run on Saturday. He defeated Steve Chrisman, Leah Pritchett and Spencer Massey in early elimination rounds before racing past Brown in the final.

“We had a lot going on positively with Guy Fieri here this weekend,” Langdon continued. “We had to come out here and do well and make a statement. Now we’ll take what we did here and move on to Phoenix and continue what we are doing. We are still looking for sponsorship and trying to do the best we can.”