Legendary NHRA car owner and business magnate, Don Schumacher can now claim his fleet Top Fuel dragsters are all of championship caliber with the addition of Shawn Langdon aboard his DSR team for the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing season.
Langdon, 33, will drive the Sandvik Coromant/Red Fuel Powered by Schumacher Top Fuel dragster joining Tony Schumacher and defending 2015 Top Fuel champion, Antron Brown as a full-time DSR teammate that capped off the year winning the NHRA Auto Club Finals at Pomona to wrap up the season.
“After Pomona last month, Alan and I sat down and discussed 2016 and beyond,” said Langdon, a native of Mira Loma, Calif., who lives in Avon near Indianapolis. “Alan and I decided it was in both of our interests to go separate ways. That was tough. I had a great three years with Alan Johnson Racing and being part of the Johnson family. I’ll have special memories for the rest of my life.”
The 2013 Top Fuel champion, Langdon comes on board with crew chiefs Todd Okuhara and Phil Shuler and with their season-ending win at Pomona is already a proven winner.
“We are adding one of the best drivers in our sport and a quality young man to our lineup and nothing could make me happier,” said DSR owner Don Schumacher. “He’s a second generation driver from a great family and who fits in perfectly here.”
Langdon is a Jr. Dragster champion (1997), an NHRA Lucas Oil sportsman series champion winning the Super Comp champion in 2007-08, and reached his pinnacle taking his first Top Fuel championship in 2013.
“We’ve watched Shawn from his first days in Top Fuel and knew he would be a champion one day,” Don said. “I really got to know him at the end of this season when Alan Johnson allowed him to join us for the Countdown so both would have a chance to win another world championship.
“You couldn’t ask for a driver to interact better with his team and everyone at DSR. He is just a class act. He wanted to win a race so badly for the Red Fuel team and I was thrilled when he pulled that off at the Finals with Todd and Phil.”
Langdon starts his DSR career starting at the 2016 Winternationals at the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona on February 11-14.
“I’m very excited about this new chapter in my life,” said the 12-time Top Fuel winner. “Don gave me the opportunity to race with DSR in the Red Fuel/Dandvik car and the end of this season so I got a taste of racing for DSR. It was perfect to end the season the way we did at Pomona in the Finals. Hopefully, that’s a sign of what’s to come in 2016.”
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