NHRA Funny Car driver Shawn Langdon explains his fuel mixing process
The right fuel mixture is extremely important for a good race. Drivers often take the mixture into their own hands shortly before the race.
Tyler Kraft, Indianapolis Star
This weekend marks the 70th anniversary of the U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. Fans will come in droves to see the cars reach speeds of over 330 mph on the quarter-mile drag racing track in the Top Fuel class. Some fans will come to see a local Hoosier race at the U.S. Nationals.
Tony Stewart, three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, former IndyCar winner and owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, will compete in the U.S. Nationals for the second time, this time in the Top Fuel class.
Stewart, a native of Columbus, Indiana, raced in the Top Alcohol division last year in preparation for his rookie season in the Top Fuel division this year.
Stewart made his foray into drag racing in 2022 after announcing that his team, Tony Stewart Racing, would field a Funny Car entry for longtime veteran Matt Hagan and a Top Fuel entry for Stewart's wife, Leah Pruett.
In 2024, Stewart sits seventh in the Top Fuel standings and is coming off a season-best finish of second at the Sonoma Nationals on July 28. Stewart and his team have struggled with the balance of the car all year as the team adjusts to having Pruett in the car all last season.
“Never in my life did I think that at 53 years old I would still be a novice in any form of motorsports, but that's the way it is,” Stewart said. “We were having problems with the car, trying to balance it, and honestly it's been a struggle all year. When Leah gets out of the car and I get in, the total weight of the car increases by 60 pounds. There's a different chassis than the one she drove last year, and they built a different car for me to fit in better.”
Stewart has spent hours in the race car in the past and has now moved to sitting in the Top Fuel car for just three seconds at a time. The physical demands on a driver can be just as great, if not greater, in an NHRA car.
“It's a lot more physically demanding than people realize,” Stewart said. “You feel the positive G-forces as the car accelerates on the track. And then you go from all those positive G-forces to the parachute deployment. Then suddenly it's 6.5 negative G's. That's 12.5 G's, which you don't get in any other motorsport. You have to be really fit for that. I'm sore at the end of the weekend.”
Stewart is no stranger to major events, having competed in some of North America's biggest races, including the Indianapolis 500, Brickyard 400 and Daytona 500. Despite the challenges his rookie season has presented, Stewart is excited to compete in the U.S. Nationals this weekend.
“I got a taste of it last year when I was here with the Top Alcohol Dragster, but I can tell you I know what it's going to be like when we come here to race,” Stewart said. “I still have the same nervousness, the same anxiety and the same internal stress level as when I raced at the Brickyard.”
We'll have family and friends here who never get to travel and watch us race. You have all the pressure of it being a hometown race, not to mention the fact that it's the biggest race of the year.”
