Shawn Langdon is on loan and in the NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship after all.

The 2013 NHRA Top Fuel champion, whose Alan Johnson Racing team parked the car earlier this week following the U.S. Nationals, will race the rest of this season under the Don Schumacher Racing banner.

The announcement came Wednesday afternoon following negotiations between the two team owners.

In a high-stakes round of musical dragsters, Langdon will drive DSR’s Red Fuel Powered by Schumacher/Sandvik Coromant entry after qualifying as the No. 6-ranked driver in AJR’s Knuckle Sandwich Toyota car. Khalid alBalooshi, Langdon’s former AJR teammate, drove the DSR car at the U.S. Nationals mere days after Schumacher fired Spencer Massey.

With Massey’s dismissal and his absence from the Indianapolis race, the Red Fuel / Sandvik Coromant team finished the regular season in 11th place and did not qualify for the Countdown. U.S. Nationals finalist Dave Connolly earned that 10th and final spot in the playoff.

Langdon remains under contract to AJR and will rejoin that team – which, like DSR, is based in Brownsburg, Ind. – at the end of the 2015 Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season in mid-November.

AJR announced Jan. 5 that it lost its sponsorship approximately a week before leaving for pre-season testing and a month before the start of this season. With sponsorship from Toyota Motor Sales, Langdon and team raced the entire 2015 so-called regular season – and won a race and set performance marks –but did not have sufficient funds to compete in the six-event playoff that opens this weekend at Charlotte with the Carolina Nationals.

“Alan and I were able to work this out, and it benefits everyone,” Schumacher said.

“Khalid helped us when we needed a driver for the U.S. Nationals, and this decision is only based on Shawn having qualified for the Countdown and the championship,” Schumacher said. “Our NHRA fans certainly should see the 10 best drivers battle it out in the Countdown, and we are excited that Shawn and our Red Fuel/Sandvik team will be in the fight.”

Detailed terms of the agreement will not be disclosed.

An AJR press release Wednesday called the move “a consummate example of cooperation between competitors.”

Johnson, who all along has planned to return to NHRA competition in 2016, said Wednesday in a prepared statement, “It’s unfortunate that Alan Johnson Racing cannot compete for the Mello Yello championship this year. Our arrangement with DSR is the best for NHRA drag racing, the best for the fans, the best for Shawn, and it helps out a fellow competitor. It really should work out well for everyone involved.  Sometimes it’s good to put ‘what’s best for the sport’ ahead of everything else.  I think this circumstance is one of those times.”

Langdon said he’s grateful for the opportunity.

“To start the season with Alan Johnson Racing and finish it at Don Schumacher Racing is definitely a unique situation,” Langdon said. “Everyone at AJR gave it 110 percent all season to try to contend for the championship. Thanks to Toyota for stepping up for our team in a time of need and giving us that opportunity. We can’t thank them enough, and we can’t thank the AJR crew guys enough for sticking with us. It was just unfortunate that we couldn’t find enough funding. It’s disappointing not to be able to finish the season.

“After everything happened, there was an opportunity to race with Don Schumacher Racing to finish the season. It’s a unique opportunity, but I think it’s a good fit for everyone at DSR, as well as for Alan and me,” he said. “I am still under contract with Alan Johnson Racing, and we are still working towards getting our team back together in 2016. But for the next six races, I’ll be driving for Don Schumacher Racing and competing for a championship.  It’s great for the fans to be able to have 10 cars competing for the Mello Yello championship. It’s good for NHRA, and at this point, I think it’s good for everybody.”

Morgan Lucas confirmed Tuesday evening to Dragaine that he would not be stepping aside from the car that he drove to his U.S. Nationals victory two weeks ago to welcome Langdon back to the organization as Richie Crampton’s teammate.

“Due to our planning being forecasted for Las Vegas next month, we do not have the parts and pieces in our possession to pursue a championship with two cars,” Lucas said.

He said, “As a fan and a friend, it is extremely disappointing to hear what’s going on with Alan’s program. At no point do I ever want to see a team leave drag racing. But at the end of the day it is a business, and I know this can’t be easy for anyone involved with that program.”