Shawn Langdon is a little out of his element right now.

He’s the NHRA Top Fuel points leader – that much has him in somewhat of a comfort zone. So did winning the Circle K Winternationals in February to qualify for the $100,000-to-win Traxxas Shootout in September at Indianapolis.

But his Alan Johnson Racing team unexpectedly lost its funding one month before the 2015 season began, and that became public Jan. 5. Since then, the 2013 series champion has been unsure if he’ll race a full schedule or even whether he’ll enter the next race. And who anticipated he’d receive a Knuckle Sandwich?

But that part is good, the Knuckle Sandwich. That happens to be one of celebrity chef and TV host Guy Fieri’s retail brands, and it has enabled Langdon to serve up his usual punishment on the competition.

Fieri, the face of Food Network’s popular show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, joined Alan Johnson Racing as its strategic marketing partner shortly before the season-opening Winternationals at Pomona, Calif. He’s a Santa Rosa, Calif., native, like Johnson, and has had a friendship with team general manager Brandon Bernstein. His culinary empire includes seven restaurants, a New York Times Best Sellers List cookbook, and the Knuckle Sandwich retail brand. Knuckle Sandwich is the name of Fieri’s company, and while it’s slathered across the side of Langdon’s dragster along with “Alan Johnson Performance Engineering,” Fieri’s company does not sponsor the race team.

Despite the no-garnish approach so far this season, Langdon has gobbled up elimination-round victories for an 8-2 record and two top-qualifier positions in the schedule’s three events.

He also posted the quickest elapsed time in NHRA history Feb. 7 at Pomona with a 3.700-second pass in qualifying at the top of the order. (It is a track record but not the national record, because during eliminations he couldn’t coax a 3.737-second or quicker E.T. to back that up, per NHRA rules. Langdon also owns the fastest run ever, at 334.15 mph, but it’s not the speed record because he did not make another run within one percent of that speed during the same race weekend as NHRA rules require.)

“We’ve had a great start to the season.  We have a race win, two No. 1 qualifiers, and two semifinals in the first three races.  The Knuckle Sandwich/AJPE Toyota dragster has been responding well to the changes we’ve made so far, and we’re feeling good about how the car is performing.  We just have to do our best to have a great race this weekend so we can keep it going,” Langdon said.

That performance, team owner Johnson said, should give them entrée to discussions with potential marketing partners.

“We decided to race the early portion of this season to show potential sponsors that we have a championship-caliber race team. We have done that in the first three races,” Johnson said. “It is definitely easier to walk into a boardroom to talk about a team that leads the point standings, and we need to do our best to stay there. It’s helping.

“Our marketing staff and our new strategic marketing partner, Guy Fieri and his Knuckle Sandwich group, are working as hard as they can to find the funding we need,” he said. “We are very thankful for our existing sponsors like Toyota and Red Line Oil who continue to support our efforts, and I cannot thank the members of our team enough for their loyalty and commitment – this process is difficult for all of us.”

The AJR / Knuckle Sandwich team has forged ahead and entered the 4-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway at Concord, N.C. On the eve of that race, Johnson said, “Racing the entire season and competing for the 2015 NHRA Mello Yello world championship is still our goal.  Like the last race two weeks ago, we are racing in Charlotte to give ourselves a little more time to put a program together that will allow us to do that.  We have done well in Charlotte over the years, and we are going there this weekend with every intention of winning the 4-Wide Nationals.”

A published Internet report clearly labeled rumor that hinted of an alliance with another Top Fuel operation that has two dragsters, one with a full time driver, the other with a part-time driver.

The report suggested that the new team’s current full time driver would move to the team’s secondary car along with his crew chief and that Langdon would drive the “new” team’s current primary dragster, with the part-time driver bowing out. The report said if all that were to happen, Johnson would sell his racing equipment.

If the AJPE/Knuckle Sandwich team is on the verge of striking such a deal, no one would know it by Langdon.

“On the sponsorship front, we’re really in the same boat we’ve been in all year. We continue to look for sponsorship,” he said. “We’re trying to find a good company that wants to be on the side of our car to carry us to the end of the year and maybe even beyond. Our goal is to keep our car out there and to be able to race for the championship at the end of the year. Outside of that, there are no real plans after Charlotte, unless we can find that sponsorship to keep us out there.”

 

The only two teams that fit the description in the rumor report are Morgan Lucas Racing and Torrence Racing. (The only other full time single-car teams on the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series tour are those of Terry McMillen, Clay Millican, and Brittany Force, but none fields a part-time teammate.)

Morgan Lucas Racing, ironically where Langdon got his feet wet in the Top Fuel ranks, seemed like a logical choice because that organization has had a friendly working relationship with Alan Johnson Racing. However, with Johnson’s loyalty to longtime, steadfast partner Red Line Oil and Morgan Lucas naturally promoting the family’s Lucas Oil enterprise, such an association might present conflicting agendas.

Morgan Lucas has dropped to part-time appearances in his team’s second car, while 2014 rookie of the year Richie Crampton is the team’s full time driver. And Lucas told Dragzine, “We have had no conversation with Shawn or A.J. about this matter.”

He went on to say, “We do feel that it is a shame to see the AJPE team in their current situation and hope they can find a way to continue on.”

Steve Torrence, who occasionally has the luxury of father and business partner Billy Torrence racing with him, responded to Dragzine’s inquiry, NFL star Marshawn Lynch-style: “Nothing to comment on at this time but thank you.”

Langdon said, “We’re doing the best job we can. All we can do is show what our team is capable of. We have a great product with the Knuckle Sandwich / AJPE Toyota car, so we’ll just keep doing what we’re doing. Obviously, we want to contend for the championship at the end of the year.  We’ll just do the best job that we can, go out there and win races, and hopefully catch the eye of somebody that wants to sponsor a Top Fuel car.”

The one-car team made a pre-season commitment to compete in the season’s first two races and later added the third event, the Amalie Oil Gatornationals at Gainesville, Fla. Johnson announced Monday the team would race at Charlotte to give its sponsorship search a little more time.

Brownsburg, Ind.-headquartered Alan Johnson Racing has won NHRA Top Fuel championships in 1997, 1998, and 2000 with Gary Scelzi, in 2010 with Larry Dixon, in 2011 with Del Worsham, and 2013 with Langdon. Johnson also won five straight series crowns with Tony Schumacher at Don Schumacher Racing from 2004-2008.

Langdon’s 2013 title was his fourth NHRA national championship. He won the 1997 NHRA Jr. Dragster national championship in the 14-year-old division and the NHRA Lucas Oil Super Comp championship in 2007 and 2008.  He is the first alumnus of the NHRA Jr. Dragster program to win a Mello Yello championship.

Photos credit NHRA/National Dragster