Devon HenryA historically hot weekend in The Valley couldn’t have come at a more fortuitous time as the 75th Anniversary Season of NHRA racing invaded Chandler for the 41st Arizona Nationals at Firebird Motorsports Park.
The record-high temperature brought a chaotic atmosphere to the race weekend with track temperature reaching nearly 150 degrees, creating a surface with little grip. While the combination created “low” speeds of just under 300 mph, the heat made the track dangerous, technical, and difficult to handle.
No matter the temperature, Shawn Langdon, a Californian who has raced at Firebird since his early career in junior dragsters, has found a way to dominate in Chandler. Langdon blew his way through the bracket and defeated Lake Havasu City resident, Leah Pruett, in the final. The victory marked the third consecutive trip to victory lane for a member of the NHRA’s 75 greatest drivers. Langdon joins a small group of greats to three-peat at the Arizona drag strip.
Capps’ trip to Funny Car victory circle was much less straightforward. In his quarterfinal matchup against Daniel Wilkerson, Capps’ engine detonated in a fiery explosion, burning his firesuit in the cockpit. Nonetheless, Capps still managed to win the race with the explosion happening towards the end of the strip. Capps and his team thrashed in the garage, executing an engine change. As customary on the drag strip, his semifinal opponent and the defending event winner, Paul Lee and his team waited for Capps’ team to complete their repairs as long as possible, and Capps’ funny car was able to make it to the strip and defeat Lee. Capps lined up against reigning NHRA Rookie of the Year, Spencer Hyde – searching for his first career race win – in the final round. Hyde credits Capps for inspiring him to drag race and considers Capps his hero. Capps ripped down the strip at 303.23 mph to claim his fourth Arizona Nationals championship, only trailing John Force for the most wins at Firebird in Funny Car history
NHRA and its teams have a few weeks to regroup from the unprecedented Arizona heat before their next event in Pomona, CA, April 9-12.
