Shawn Langdon Norwalk Saturday Report

Qualifying fourth feels just fine for Lucas Oil's Langdon

Shawn Langdon and the Lucas Oil/Speedco Top Fuel dragster team were under the gun Saturday, but easily rose to the occasion with their best qualifying effort of the season.

Friday's two qualifying sessions were washed out by rain, leaving the team just two shots at making the field at the fifth annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals. Langdon and company stepped to the plate and broke off a 3.859-second pass at 313.66 mph to qualify No. 4 for Sunday's eliminations.

"Going into race day, we've got great confidence," Langdon said. "Everything is starting to click again. We're starting to get back into shape. We just need to get a little bit of luck on our side.

"You are always nervous when you come into a scenario like we had today. But when the car went down and made that 3.85 run, it relieved all the pressure we were under."

He said that behind the wheel the run didn’t feel all that fast.

"Those are always the really good runs," Langdon said. "It was so smooth, so I was surprised when the light came on and it said 3.85. I was thinking a higher 3.80 number.

"The car has been running so much better and it glides right through."

Langdon has a first round matchup with part-timer Scott Palmer, who qualified No. 13 with a best lap of 4.439 seconds at 226.01 mph.

"It feels good to get a little bit of luck turned back our way," Langdon said. "We've been making good runs lately, just not at the right times. Hopefully this is where we're getting over that little hump.

"Hopefully we can get on a roll again."