NHRA Wrap-up: Champions Crowned At Season Finale At Pomona

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Shawn Langdon earned his first Top Fuel championship and Jeg Coughlin his fifth in Pro Stock at the Auto Club NHRA Finals, as the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season wrapped up Sunday where it began — at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, Calif.

They joined John Force (Funny Car) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) in collecting their championship checks Monday evening at the NHRA Awards Ceremony at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles.

Image courtesy NHRA/National Dragster

Image courtesy NHRA/National Dragster

DREAM REALIZED – Shawn Langdon entered the Countdown as the No. 1 seed, and he lost and regained it during he Countdown to clinch his first Top Fuel title during qualifying Saturday. That capped a breakout season in which he won seven times in 11 finals and led the field seven times. He reached the semifinals or better at 16 of the final 20 races. Recalling fondly the days when he tagged along with dad Chad Langdon, a sportsman racer, and looked up to the sport’s legends, Shawn Langdon said, “I didn’t have anything much more than a dream, a dream to drive a Top Fuel car.” But as he sat there with a trophy more than half his height, Langdon said, “We got what we came here for: the championship. Man, what a journey. To do it out here at Pomona, I don’t think anything could have topped this.”

He thanked his parents: “My dad . . . showed me the basics of drag racing. Between listening to my dad and sitting in the grandstands, I learned a lot of what I know today.” Langdon seems destined to win national championships, earning one in Jr. Dragster as a 14-year-old and two Super Comp titles before turning pro. But this Top Fuel accomplishment represented the pinnacle for the 31-year-old who grew up in Mira Loma, just about 30 miles from the fabled Pomona dragstrip.

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 Langdon also thanked Jack Brown for putting him in his Super Comp car and the Forrest Lucas family for giving him his first Top Fuel ride. He heaped praise on Qatar Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani, his Al-Anabi Racing team owner, and team manager Alan Johnson, crew chief Brian Husen and assistant Nick Peters, and partner Al-Anabi crew chiefs Jason McCulloch and Ronnie Thompson. “They gave me an opportunity of a lifetime that I just couldn’t pass up, and this is the result,” Langdon said. 

We got what we came here for: the championship. Man, what a journey. To do it out here at Pomona, I don’t think anything could have topped this. – Shawn Langdon

He said they never gave up on him during a bleaker-than-expected 2012 season together: “They followed Alan’s lead, and Alan’s record speaks for itself. You have a leader like Alan, and you follow him and you believe in him,” the new champion said.

A.J. LEGACY – Langdon joined the Alan Johnson legacy, bringing to 11 the total of NHRA Top Fuel championships the Al-Anabi team manager has scripted. Johnson won three with Gary Scelzi, five with Tony Schumacher, and one apiece with Larry Dixon and Del Worsham. 

FIVE FEELS FANTASTIC – Jeg Coughlin hasn’t become jaded by winning NHRA Pro Stock championships. After earning his fifth when Mike Edwards faltered at the starting line in the first round and Jason Line, his only other challenger, lost in Round 2, Coughlin said, “This championship is extremely special to us, without question. When I stepped away from professional racing at the end of 2010, I honestly wasn’t real sure how quickly I’d get back in the seat. We didn’t rest too long. Shortly thereafter, we put a great program together with our friends at Mopar to run a Dodge Avenger for the ’12, ’13 and ’14 seasons. We transitioned to racing with Allen and Roy Johnson and the J&J horsepower they make, and it’s been a great relationship.” 

308-JegCoughlinCelebration-Sunday-Pomona2Although Coughlin never was worse in the standings than fourth all year, he steadily chipped away at the lead Vincent Nobile took and Mike Edwards took away and hung onto for most of the season. The Delaware, Ohio, resident won four races in eight final rounds in 2013, and he assumed the points lead after a victory at Reading, Pa., in the fourth of six Countdown events.

He called this “one of the tightest and one of the most intense championships I’ve ever won” but described himself as “just ice-cold and relaxed.” 

Coughlin said, “To bring a second straight championship back to Auburn Hills [Mich.] for our friends at Mopar and another one to Greeneville, Tenn., for the J&J Racing crew, and now a seventh overall world championship to Delaware, Ohio, for everyone at JEGS, it feels fantastic,” Coughlin said. “It ranks right up there at the top.”

This championship is extremely special to us, without question. When I stepped away from professional racing at the end of 2010, I honestly wasn’t real sure how quickly I’d get back in the seat. – Jeg Coughlin

Coughlin is only the eighth racer in NHRA history to win a fifth professional title. His other Pro Stock crowns came in 2000, 2002, 2007, and 2008. He also won the sportsman-level NHRA Super Gas championship in 1992.

This championship is the fourth this year for the Coughlin family. Nephew T.J. Coughlin  won the Division 3 title in Super Gas. Another nephew, Cody Coughlin, ruled in the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour stock-car championship. Son Jeg Coughlin III is the Ohio state high school golf champion. The family also scored its 100th career NHRA national-event victory as Jeg’s older brother Troy Coughlin won the Pro Mod trophy at Las Vegas.

‘TOP OF THE CAKE’ – Shawn Langdon squeezed nearly everything he could out of the weekend. Brandon Bernstein did edge him out of the No. 1 starting position by two-thousandths of a second, but the Al-Anabi driver marched through a stout lineup Sunday to claim the Top Fuel event Wally trophy, too. He bested Doug Kalitta in a thrilling side-by-side final round, winning with a 3.784-second pass at 323.58 mph against Kalitta’s 3.808-second, 323.04-mph effort in the Mac Tools Dragster. 

With that, Langdon swept all the California races: both the Winternationals and Finals at Pomona and the summer race at Sonoma, in the Bay Area. Moreover, the victory marked the first time a Top Fuel driver has won the season-book-end races since 2004 — when Langdon’s team manager, Alan Johnson, tuned Tony Schumacher to the achievement.  Johnson and Gary Scelzi pulled off the double in 2000.

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The new champion called the race victory “the top of the cake” and said, “Right now I’m up on Cloud Nine. When you envision, as a kid wanting to become a professional drag racer, this is what I envisioned: sitting in the press room, winning Pomona, winning the championship and being part of a great team. When all your dreams come true and you’re part of something special, you’re almost at a loss for words.”

BERNSTEIN MAKES PRESENCE KNOWN – For the past two season finales, Brandon Bernstein hasn’t been in Countdown contention. But for the second straight time, he has made sure fns and competitors alike don’t forget him and his ProtectThe Harvest.com / MAVTV Dragster. Amid the coronation Saturday of Shawn Langdon as Top Fuel champion, Bernstein one-upped Langdon and took the top qualifying spot in the final session with a a 3.748-second elapsed time at 325.37 mph on the Auto Club Raceway 1,000-foot course. He earned his first No. 1 qualifying position in 60 races, since June 2011 at Bristol, Tenn. Last year he beat Tony Schumacher in the Top Fuel final to hand the series crown to Antron Brown.

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CAN’T BE DISAPPOINTED – Matt Hagan knew the Funny Car championship was out of reach. John Force had wrestled it away from Hagan at Las Vegas, for the second time in four years. So if he beat Force in the final round last Sunday, he couldn’t earn a second title. But he said he almost felt like he did when he outlegged Force in the Funny Car finale at Pomona in a close race – 4.018 seconds at 320.66 mph for Hagan, 4.057, 317.94 for Force.

The Mopar/Rocky Boots team did it all last weekend without crew chef Dickie Venables, who was just being released Sunday from an Indianapolis hospital after successful intestinal surgery the previous Wednesday.  First-year assistant crew chief Michael Knudsen stepped up to lead the team and give Don Schumacher Racing its 23rd fuel-class victory in 24 races this season.

Hagan said, “I’m on Cloud Nine that our assistant crew chief stepped up and was able to fill some big shoes. Mike Knudsen has never tuned a race car by himself before. There hasn’t been another crew chief in our lounge all weekend. This guy has done a phenomenal job. It just shows you how smart the people are that this DSR organization puts around you. When something happens they can step up and take the reins and run with it. My guys have worked so hard. I’m so proud of them.”

I’m on Cloud Nine that our assistant crew chief stepped up and was able to fill some big shoes. Mike Knudsen has never tuned a race car by himself before. There hasn’t been another crew chief in our lounge all weekend. – Matt Hagan

 

It was a significant turnaround season for Hagan with Venables’ guidance. After winning the 2011 championship, Hagan didn’t win a single event, qualify No. 1, or make the Countdown last year. “My season has just been phenomenal,” Hagan said. “How can you be upset about this many race wins (5) and final rounds (9)? Don has done such a phenomenal job of putting core people around us and giving us the parts that we need. I’m just proud of our guys for working so hard and stepping up. Dickie can put a feather in his cap for knowing he trained these boys to do what they did today.”

RAW EMOTION – First-time NHRA Pro Stock winner Rickie Jones’ extremely emotional, tearful reaction to winning over Allen Johnson in the final round of the final race of the year became an instant NHRA classic.

316-RickieJonesWally-Sunday-Pomona2“You work for something for so long. You drive the truck across the country. You work on the car. You build it. You do it all together as a team. You just keep beating on it, and finally it came. There have been so many times I prayed the is moment would happen. It’s everything I’ve wanted since I was a 10-year-old kid. It’s more than I ever imagined. It means so much to me and my family,” he said after using his Elite Motorsports horsepower for a 6.584-second holeshot victory at 210.28 mph against Johnson’s 6.581, 211.03. The Galesburg, Ill., native, who just got engaged to fiancee Sarah at the previous race and will be married next October, became the ninth different winner. He’s the son of renowned chassis builder Rick Jones. 

EDDIE’S IN THE HOUSE – Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Eddie Krawiec made himself at home at Auto Club Raceway, helping himself to four elimination-round treats and sitting in the best seat in the house at the end of the day. “I’ve been fortunate enough that this racetrack has been . . . like . . . It’s my house. That’s the way I look at it when I get here: I’m in Pomona,” Krawiec said. “I do the best that I can to not let anybody win here. It’s six final rounds in the last six years here. I’ve won three. The really odd stat is that I’ve won every year I’ve lost the championship. And every year that I’ve won the championship, I’ve lost the race. So I guess this is a good way to cap the season.”

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The Vance & Hines Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson rider beat final-round foe Scotty Pollacheck with a 6.918-second, 192.41-mph pass against Pollacheck’s 6.963, 193.57 aboard a Matt Smith Racing Buell. It signaled a comeback for 2014 for the Harley duo that includes Andrew Hines. They had dominated in previous years, each winning three series championships, but NHRA rules aimed at leveling the playing field sent them scrambling last off-season to redesign their engines.

DSC_0694SO LONG, FAREWELL . . . – Top Alcohol Funny Car legend Frank Manzo, who with 17 series championships has more titles than anyone in NHRA competition, retired in style with 105 national-event victories.

In Top Alcohol Dragster, Jim Whiteley was making his last appearance before yielding his seat to son Steve. Johnny Ahten, who never before had a runner-up finish, let alone a victory, stopped Whiteley’s streak. He had won the past thee national events he had entered. Still, he bowed out with a 23-7 ledger in final rounds.

Funny Car Countdown contender Johnny Gray lost in the quarterfinals to Don Schumacher Racing colleague Matt Hagan to enter retirement earlier than he would have liked. Besides, Gray, who’s only 60 years old, got a little “weirded out” before eliminations when team boss Don Schumacher lauded him. Said Gray, “Nobody usually says all those nice things about you unless you’re fixing to die.”

I love this sport. I’m just going to be taking a different angle on it in the future. Morgan Lucas

Morgan Lucas stepped from the seat of his GEICO / Lucas Oil Top Fuel team after his second-round loss to Clay Millican by a mere .0006-second margin. “I love this sport. I’m just going to be taking a different angle on it in the future,” Lucas said. “I’m looking forward to this next chapter in my life and career.” The expectant father will concentrate on the family’s Lucas Oil business. On the strength of victories at Seattle and Charlotte, a runner-up finish at Sonoma, three No. 1 qualifiers (Chicago, Charlotte 2 and Reading), Lucas exited with a career-best No. 4 finish. 

“I’m so proud of what this team has accomplished this season,” Lucas said. “We’ve been chipping away at it every race. Our goal has been to improve and race smart, and we’ve done a lot to be proud of. The final spot in the points is just the cherry on top.”

SPORTSMAN WINNERS – Jeff Lane (Comp Eliminator), Jeff Adkinson (Super Stock), Bo Butner (Stock), Bobby Dye Jr. (Super Comp), and Pete Zak (Super Gas) claimed trophies in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series season-closer. Summit Racing Series winners were Edmond Richardson (Super Pro), Alvie Merrill (Pro), Jeff Hefler (Sportsman), Chad Isley (Bike/Sled).

About the author

Susan Wade

Celebrating her 45th year in sports journalism, Susan Wade has emerged as one of the leading drag-racing writers with 20 seasons at the racetrack. She was the first non-NASCAR recipient of the prestigious Russ Catlin Award and has covered the sport for the Chicago Tribune, Newark Star-Ledger, St. Petersburg Times, and Seattle Times. Growing up in Indianapolis, motorsports is part of her DNA. She contributes to Power Automedia as a freelancer writer.
Read My Articles

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