MORRISON — Top fuel driver Shawn Langdon failed to reach 100 mph in his two qualifying passes Friday at Bandimere Speedway. That’s akin to a big-league baseball player hitting two dribblers to the mound.
Landgon, who drives for legendary tuner and team owner Alan Johnson, isn’t to blame. He and Johnson are just fighting to survive in the money pit that is the National Hot Rod Association.
On the surface, their problems are no different than many NHRA teams. The cost of doing business runs parallel to increasing speeds.
Sponsorship buys participation and success, and Johnson had all that and more with partner Sheik Khalid Al Thani of Qatar, a racing fan who took care of Alan Johnson Racing’s two-car annual budget of roughly $7.5 million. In six years, Johnson and Al-Anabi Racing delivered three top fuel titles, by drivers Larry Dixon (2010), Del Worsham (2011) and Langdon (2013).
But Johnson went from a shark to a salmon after being dumped by the government of Qatar. Sheik Khalid’s funding was cut off in January, days before a test session and a month before the season-opening race, and the remaining four years on the sponsorship contract became worthless.
Sheik Khalid’s apologies didn’t make up for turning the high- profile, two-car team into a single-car outfit with a cloudy future. Langdon remained on board after the team cut loose the sheik’s handpicked driver, Khalid alBalooshi of Dubai.
Johnson, who has won 11 world titles as crew chief or team owner, funded the first three races on his own and has assistance from Toyota during the last 11.
“Anytime you have a sponsorship that’s basically a country outside the United States, there’s some risks,” Johnson said during the 36th Mopar Mile-High Nationals. “You just have to accept it and move on.”
Johnson and Langdon have hit a wall after leading the points after the first three races, by winning the opener and advancing to the semifinals in the next two. In the last 11 races — since Toyota stepped up with aid — they are 4-10 in eliminations.
Johnson mostly funds his team while searching for a sponsor, and the more they struggle, the less chance they will find one.
“Part of it is the attempt to keep my employees from being unemployed,” Johnson said of continuing to race. “If I shut the doors right now, they’re all going to have to find a job somewhere. And then if I do get a sponsorship for 2016 and beyond I might have to go find all new people. It’s a difficult position.”
Johnson is not pursuing legal action over the broken contract. He said Toyota produces about 20 to 25 percent what Sheik Khalid contributed.
“What are you going to do, have a legal fight with the country of Qatar? I don’t think so. So it’s not worth it,” Johnson said. “You accept it and move on.”
Johnson’s peers can’t feel too sorry for his loss.
“You never count him out,” top fuel driver J.R. Todd said. “For a sponsor, I think it’s silly to pass up on Alan. It just shows how hard it is to find full-time sponsors.”
Todd competes for Kalitta Motorsports, and his car is not fully sponsored. An Ohio-based pavement company is on the side of Todd’s car, its fourth major paint scheme of the season.
Fact is, big-league drag racing has become too expensive for many teams, including a legend such as Johnson.
Testing has become a huge part of winning, and Johnson’s budget for that has been cut by about 80 percent. In the past when the team was in a funk, it went to a track and tested, usually finding a solution. It doesn’t help that Langdon is driving a car with an experimental setup combination that was established under the premise that Sheik Khalid would be funding the team.
“We figured it would be risky, but we would be able to test enough to get it figured out in time,” Johnson said. “But now, we can’t really afford to test enough to get it figured out. So we’re kind of flying by the seat of our pants right now.”
