Rookie of the Year nominee Langdon expecting big finish to '09 season

RICHMOND, Va. (Oct. 8) -- The NHRA has released the finalists for this year's Auto Club Rookie of the Year award and, as expected, Top Fuel driver Shawn Langdon is on the short list of drivers up for the prestigious honor.

With that lofty goal in mind, Langdon is ready to attack this weekend's fourth annual Virginia NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park.

"I'm liking our chances right now of winning that Rookie of the Year," said Langdon, who turned professional this year after back-to-back world championships in Super Comp. "Spencer (Massey, fellow ROTY finalist) has a win and we don't but that's really the one thing holding us back from having a dead lock on it. We've been going a lot of rounds and are higher in the points so that can only help at this point.

"I would expect it's going to come down to the last race, no matter how you look at it. I like our chances. We're going to do the best we can and whatever happens, happens. Spencer is a good friend and he's a great driver so we'll just have to see what the voters think."

Langdon currently is two positions higher than Massey in the Full Throttle championship points. He's raced to one final-round and seven semifinal finishes while fashioning a 24-21 race day record. He also was the No. 1 qualifier at the first Las Vegas race.

He'll try to pad his resume this weekend to gain a few more votes from the nationwide panel of judges drawn from media members who cover the sport.

"I've never actually raced at Virginia Motorsports Park so it'll be new to me but my guys have all been here a bunch of times," Langdon said. "All tracks are long and straight but they do have their own nuances so I'll make sure and spend some time walking the track and checking it out.

"We're excited to be ending this string of four races in a row. We hurt some parts in Memphis and I'm sure the guys are tired. It'll be nice to get home fro a few days and regroup a little. Of course, it will be a lot easier to relax if we're coming off a big weekend."

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Contact: Geiger Media at 281-354-5769 or rob@go2geiger.com.

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