No Sponsor, No Problem – Langdon Takes Pomona Pole

Fastest time ever run

Sponsor or no sponsor, Shawn Langdon is not giving up on his 2015 season. Not by a long shot.

Just weeks after his team had their sponsorship yanked out from under them, the former NHRA Top Fuel Champion and his Alan Johnson-led team rocketed to the top of the ladder on Saturday with the quickest pass in NHRA history, posting a 3.700 at 328.30 mph in the third round of qualifying to take the no.1 qualifier for Sunday's 55th annual NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.

Courtney Force was the top qualifier in Funny Car, while Erica Enders-Stevens led the Pro Stocks after rain showers brought qualifying to an end after just three rounds.

Langdon's run earned him his 17th-career no. 1 qualifier and his first at the Winternationals.

Sponsorless Langdon

Langdon will still need to run at least a 3.737 in order to backup Saturday's time to make it an official record, but the pole still stands.

"It was just a picture-perfect run," Langdon said. "It accelerated hard and pulled all the way until I shut it off. I thought I caught a glimpse of a 3.70 on the scoreboard, but I wasn't really sure. When I turned the corner and saw everyone hootin' and hollerin', I thought 'I guess I did see that 3.70.'

"It couldn't have happened at a better time for everyone at Alan Johnson Racing. Coming to the first race of the year, it's crucial for us to make a statement early and try to start off with a win – that's our focus, and we couldn't have scripted it any better at this point."

The pole-winning run was a vindication for the team and for Johnson, who called the sudden loss of sponsorship a complete surprise with "zero" warning.

It was just last month that Langdon and Johnson learned that their primary sponsor, the middle-eastern Persian Gulf state of Qatar, was pulling their support for all their North American Drag Racing operations, which included the three-time NHRA championship-winning Al-Anabi Racing.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]Al-Anabi – which was co-owned by Johnson and Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani, a member of the Qatari royal family – received sponsorship money directly from the Qatari government through the Qatari Racing Club.

After founding the team in 2008, the Sheikh pumped as much as $50 million dollars into their racing operations, and the team went onto win 42 races and Top Fuel titles in 2010, 2011 and 2013.

Langdon finished fourth in the standings last season, and he and Johnson were preparing for the upcoming 2015 season when they got the call January 5th that the Qatari Racing Club was pulling their sponsorship. The team was forced to pare down to just a one-car operation for this season, and is still seeking a full-time sponsor.

Speaking to the media today, Johnson said the Sheikh was "apologetic" and "disappointed" over the situation.

"This is not what he wanted (to happen)," said Johnson. "He wasn't funding us out of his pocket. He was funding us out of money that he got from the state of Qatar. So when Qatar cut him off, he was forced to cut us off. He wasn't really pleased about that.

"I have talked to (Sheikh Khalid) a number of times. He certainly isn't delighted about it. It wasn't his decision. There's still a number of things we have to resolve in our relationship, so there's not a tremendous amount of things I can say about it right now. There's a number of things that we can't talk about, but I think there's enough information out there that you can kind of deduce that we were funded not by Sheikh Khalid but the government of Qatar. They have their issues, as we all do. I'll leave it at that."

Richie Crampton took the second position with a 3.730 at 328.46, followed by Doug Kalitta with a 3.733 at 327.59.

Courtney Force secured her second Winternationals no.1 qualifier with a pass of 3.995 at 322.65 mph to lead the Funny Car division.

Force was the only Funny Car driver to clock in under four seconds, posting her career-best ET to knock Tommy Johnson, Jr. off the provisional pole.

"It was flying down there," said Force of her eighth-career top qualifier. "That sand trap was coming up quick. It was just a great run for us, especially because we're trying to come out here on a high note because we've got new sponsors on board. It was awesome flying down there. I knew it was a fast run. Honestly, I didn't know how fast. I could only tell by the expression on my team's face and that's how I knew it was a good one."

Johnson held the second spot with his time of 4.018 at 314.36. Defending event winner John Force will start in the third spot after posting a 4.021 at 320.28 mph.

"Fast" Jack Beckman was not so fast on opening weekend, suffering through three disappointing qualifying runs that weren't enough to get him in the field, earning him his first DNQ since 2012

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]Defending Pro Stock World Champion Erica Enders-Stevens rebounded from a pair of dismal qualifying efforts on Friday to go jump from worst to first on the speed charts, taking her 13th-career top qualifier with a time of 6.516 at 213.10 mph on Saturday.

"This hasn't been the best start for us, even though we [finished as the low qualifier]," said Enders-Stevens. "I was very surprised nobody went around us earlier today… I wish that we would have gotten this last run in. Going into Sunday with only one [full] run under your belt, it's a little nerve-wracking, but I know if anybody can do it, we can do it. I have the best guys in the world and I'm excited to see what tomorrow brings."

Defending race winner Jason Line starts in the second spot with a 6.523 at 212.93 mph. Third starting spot went to Rodger Brogdon with a 6.524 at 212.33.