Opening pass carries Top Fuel's Langdon; Morgan eighth in Pro Stock

CHANDLER, February 19, 2009: Lucas Oil/Speedco dragster pilot Shawn Langdon is still getting comfortable in his Top Fuel ride as he races into his second full season as a pro, but he already is playing the role of a seasoned racer.

In Friday's first qualifying session at the 26th annual Arizona NHRA Nationals, Langdon was second quickest in the category with a 3.870 at 315.12 mph, and though he ran into a bit of trouble in the second session, he ended the day holding down the No. 5 position.

"The second run was actually really good early, but it was kind of weird," Langdon said. "We were trying to go for it and pick up our time to improve on that first session. It was probably going 3.84 or 3.85, but at about half-track I felt it start nosing over. It was a strange sensation because usually when it spins the tires down track, it will put you forward pretty good from the negative G-forces. That didn't happen this time.

"When it felt like it was trying to nose over tonight, out of instinct I clicked it early. When I got out of the car I told the guys what I'd done, and when we came back to the pits and looked at the data we saw it had actually broken a part of a piston in the No. 3 cylinder. They told me I saved the motor by clicking it off, so that's a good thing. Overall, it was a good run, it was just a faulty part. Nothing we can do about that.

"We're No. 5 right now after the first day and it looks like it might rain out tomorrow, so we couldn't really be much happier. We just had some bad luck right there, and there was nothing we could do, but we've been making good runs and keeping up with the pack. That's what we want to do."

In the Pro Stock ranks, fellow Lucas Oil campaigner Larry Morgan continues to surprise in his brand new Ford Mustang. After hurting a motor last weekend in Pomona and then re-injuring the powerplant on the dyno back at his shop, Morgan and his team thrashed until the 11th hour to get everything in order for this weekend.

Friday, their hard work came to fruition when Morgan drove the Lucas Oil Ford Mustang to a 6.663 at 207.05 mph that was good for the provisional No. 8 spot.

A second day of qualifying is slated for Saturday when Langdon and Morgan will have two more shots at Firebird International Raceway.