{"id":106028,"date":"2026-05-19T07:06:27","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T14:06:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=106028"},"modified":"2026-05-19T07:06:27","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T14:06:27","slug":"langdon-c-green-a-stanfield-m-smith-win-in-windy-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/langdon-c-green-a-stanfield-m-smith-win-in-windy-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Langdon, C. Green, A. Stanfield, M. Smith Win in Windy City"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Matt Smith, Aaron Stanfield, Chad Green and Shawn Langdon celebrate in the Winner\u2019s Circle – NHRA photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NHRA\u2019s sixth race in its 20-contest 75th anniversary Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season, the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 Nationals at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, IL,\u00a0 <\/span>produced wins for Shawn Langdon in Top Fuel, Chad Green in Funny Car, Aaron Stanfield for Pro Stock and Matt Smith with Pro Stock Motorcycle. Thankfully, some of the weather patterns that had been predicted didn\u2019t cause much delay for the straight-line racers.<\/p>\n

Langdon, who has been the fastest racer on four wheels during the start of the 2026 racing schedule, has also been exceptionally consistent with his Brian Husen-led Kalitta Motorsports crew. They\u2019re nut-and-bolting the dragster to Langdon\u2019s liking and, despite a ninth-place qualifying effort, his run of 3.770 seconds at 336.57 mph in the last time trials session helped the Californian secure the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge victory on Saturday. On Sunday, Langdon moved past Shawn Reed, his teammate and reigning champion Doug Kalitta, John Force Racing\u2019s Josh Hart, only to meet four-time champion Antron Brown in the finals. Langdon had another good run of 3.775\/335.90 to defeat a slowing Brown, in his first final round of this year, at 4.225\/206.48.<\/p>\n

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Shawn Langdon with his trophy – Kalitta Motorsports photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In earning his second straight victory and third of this short season, Langdon admitted, \u201cIt\u2019s a dream of a season with a dream team. I didn\u2019t do anything special today; I just wasn\u2019t messing up!\u201d Knowing his team needed to make changes after qualifying, \u201cBrian realized we had to tame some things down in the car. Having to run Doug second round wasn\u2019t ideal, but at the end of the day, we had to get some information for our car and make a good run, and then from there, today was a little bit tricky.\u201d As Husen made some last-minute changes, \u201cI could tell that they had two different game plans, and one was when the sun was out and one for when the cloud cover was there. They were able to adapt when they needed to and provided a great race car for four rounds.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Langdon and crew chief Brian Husen have been consistently fast this year – Anne Proffit photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 2013 champion in this class, Langdon retains his hold on the lead for Top Fuel, followed by Kalitta, Leah Pruett, Tony Stewart, Josh Hart, Maddi Gordon, Antron Brown, Justin Ashley, Billy Torrence and Clay Millican. There\u2019s 342 points between first and tenth place.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Although he hasn\u2019t been at the lead of Funny Car for much of his career, Chad Green is starting to make on-track statements regarding his ability to win races and accumulate points with his Ford Mustang race car. Earning his second race win of the short season, he took victory in a thrilling final round against John Force Racing\u2019s Alexis DeJoria. This was the second time the duo had met in the finals and the result was the same as in the season-starter at Gainesville: Green took the win. DeJoria did earn the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge on Saturday and, with this result she maintains her No. 6 position in the Flopper points tally.<\/p>\n

Following their side-by-side run down the 1,000-foot dragstrip at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Green knew how he made it to the timing stripe first: \u201cThe whole team aspect of this sport doesn\u2019t get enough recognition,\u201d he declared. \u201cThis is 100 percent a team sport, just like football, basketball and any of those sports. The driver, they get a lot of the fame and glory but, to be honest, what these guys do is just incredible. To go out there and turn on four win lights on a Sunday is so difficult. These guys have to do everything perfectly every round and we have to go out there and beat the best guys out there doing it. So I can\u2019t say enough about the team,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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Chad Green earned his second diamond trophy of the young season – Anne Proffit photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although he never saw DeJoria during their quick run at the Chicago area circuit, \u201cShe is driving a John Force car and that was a dang good race. I never saw her during the race\u2026 when the win light came on, I thought, \u2018Oh, she probably had problems or something,\u2019 but then I looked at the time slip and man, she was right there with me!\u201d DeJoria earned her second runner-up result of the still-building season with runs past Spencer Hyde\u2019s Mustang, Dave Richards\u2019 Toyota and the Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat four-time champ, Tony Stewart Racing\u2019s\u00a0 <\/span>Matt Hagan.<\/p>\n

Despite a quarterfinal result on Sunday for Ron Capps and his Toyota GR Supra and for J.R. Todd of Kalitta Motorsports in his similar race car, the duo lead the points standings for Funny Car, followed by Matt Hagan\u2019s Dodge Charger, Chad Green, Jordan Vandergriff\u2019s Chevrolet SS, Alexis DeJoria, Spencer Hyde\u2019s Mustang, Jack Beckman\u2019s Chevy, Daniel Wilkerson and Dave Richards in their Mustangs. There\u2019s a gap of 246 points. It must be noted that Austin Prock, driving Tasca Racing\u2019s Ford Mustang, earned his first two round wins of the season, against Jim Dunn Racing\u2019s Jeff Arend (Dodge Charger) and Todd, before succumbing to Chad Green in the semifinals. Those two round wins allow Prock to race in the next Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge.<\/p>\n

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Aaron Stanfield got his first win since 2024 – NHRA photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We\u2019ve watched KB Titan Racing overcome its primary competitor in Pro Stock competition, Elite Motorsports, over the past season or so. That changed this weekend, with Erica Enders earning the No. 1 qualifying slot, along with the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, and teammate Aaron Stanfield winning his first race since 2024, quite a drought! To bring home his initial diamond trophy in this 75th anniversary season, Stanfield used some stout reaction times in the first three rounds on Sunday (.008, .011, .004) before getting to the final round. There he had it easy, when six-time Pro Stock champion Greg Anderson, from KB Titan Racing, managed to foul out and gift the victory to Elite, which hadn\u2019t seen a Wally winner\u2019s trophy since Enders\u2019 victory at last year\u2019s Cornwell Quality Tools U.S. Nationals!<\/p>\n

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Aaron Stanfield celebrates with his team – Elite Motorsports photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cOur team\u2019s definitely been waiting on this moment for a pretty good while,\u201d Stanfield admitted. \u201cIt\u2019s the best feeling you can get out here when you see that win light come on in the final round. We had a great weekend and a great day today, and kind of had some luck roll my way in that final round,\u201d he said. \u201cWe felt like we had something in South Georgia, but the racetrack was a little tricky, so we really didn\u2019t get to see it there. I think we saw it this weekend with a combination of KN being a little off. I think these Elite Motorsports guys have been working really, really, really hard. I think we\u2019re going in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite his foul in the quarterfinals, Dallas Glenn of KB Titan continues to lead the standings, trailed by teammate Greg Anderson, Elite\u2019s Greg Stanfield, KB Titan\u2019s Matt Hartford, Enders, Aaron Stanfield, Matt Latino and Cody Coughlin of KB Titan, Jeg Coughlin Jr. and Troy Coughlin Jr. of Elite. There\u2019s a gap of 329 points from first to tenth place.<\/p>\n

It was an all-Matt Smith Racing final round in Pro Stock Motorcycle on Sunday, but not quite the finals either Matt or wife Angie Smith were hoping for with their Buell motorcycles. After beating teammate Jianna Evaristo, Gaige Herrera\u2019s Vance & Hines Motorsports Suzuki Hayabusa3 and racing solo when Brayden Davis\u2019 Ryan Oehler Racing Buell broke, Matt Smith was ready to race Angie. But it wasn\u2019t meant to be: in her semifinal victory over reigning titleholder Richard Gadson of Vance & Hines, Angie Smith had issues with her transmission so the decision was made to swap it out. Unfortunately, the tranny didn\u2019t do its job and she was unable to race Matt, who rode a leisurely 6.835 seconds at 185.41 mph to the quarter-mile stripe.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Matt Smith with his second diamond trophy of the season – NHRA photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That result wasn\u2019t something either one of the Smith duo wanted. After winning his first race of the season at South Georgia Motorsports Park, Matt Smith earned his 44th career victory. \u201cI wanted a fair race; I wanted a good race, just like when we ran each other for the #2Fast2Tasty Challenge. She had the best bike this weekend, but it just wasn\u2019t meant to be for some reason. She\u2019ll get it in Maryland (the next race on a new-to-NHRA circuit). I feel confident that we will get things under control for her bike and get it back, because everybody here knows that she had the best bike,\u201d Matt Smith acknowledged. Angie Smith qualified No. 1 and is still looking for her first win in nearly four years.<\/p>\n

Reigning titleholder Richard Gadson leads the standings, followed by Matt Smith, Gaige Herrera, Angie Smith, John Hall\u2019s Buell, Clayton Howey and Chase Van Sant riding Suzuki motorcycles, Ryan Oehler\u2019s and Brayden Davis\u2019 Buells, while tenth is a tie between Jianna Evaristo and Suzuki rider Steve Johnson. There\u2019s 225 points between first and tenth places.<\/p>\n

NHRA, its families and fans will enjoy the Memorial Day weekend upcoming and return to action May 29-31 with the inaugural NHRA Potomac Nationals presented by JEGS at Maryland International Raceway in Mechanicsville, Maryland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Langdon again on the leaderboard in the 6th matchup of the NHRA professional season.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":106029,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3465,3470,5029],"tags":[13290,1704,38,13289,4730,8365,9740,9966,7,4801,74,6859,73],"class_list":["post-106028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drag-racing","category-news","category-racing","tag-chad-green-racing","tag-elite-motorsports","tag-funny-car","tag-gerber-collision-glass-nhra-route-66-nationals","tag-kalitta-motorsports","tag-matt-smith-racing","tag-mission-2fast2tasty-challenge","tag-mission-foods-drag-racing-series","tag-nhra","tag-pro-stock","tag-pro-stock-motorcycle","tag-route-66-raceway","tag-top-fuel"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Matt-Smith-Aaron-Stanfield-Chad-Green-Shawn-Langdon.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-rA8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106028"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106028\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106038,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106028\/revisions\/106038"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}