The Riverside Press-Enterprise
NHRA: Langdon looks to build on success
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 raindelayed 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.”
Langdon, 41, who now lives in Indianapolis, comes into Pomona atop the Top Fuel standings with a 39-point lead over Steve Torrence.
George, Harden lead Clippers in first of two against Blazers
Paul George scored 27 points,
James Harden had 19 points and 14 assists and the Clippers beat the Portland Trail Blazers 116-103 late on Wednesday night.
The victory gave the Clippers a one-game lead over New Orleans for the fourth seed in the Western Conference playoff picture.
The Clippers used a 34-point third quarter, which included 17 of Kawhi Leonard’s 24 points, to put the game out of reach. The teams meet again tonight in Portland.