Langdon and alBalooshi Ready to Storm Houston after Charlotte
Shawn Langdon, Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel Dragster (silver):
Reigning NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel champion Shawn Langdon enters the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Spring Nationals in fourth place in the current NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings; it is his highest points position of the season. He trails third-place Steve Torrence by 17 points and leads fifth-place Tony Schumacher by 14 points.
Langdon advanced to his first final round of the season earlier this month at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals near Charlotte. Langdon defeated Terry McMillen and Steve Torrence in the first round and defeated Spencer Massey and Brittany Force in the four-wide semifinals. In the final, Langdon and Antron Brown posted identical 3.800-second passes, but Brown’s starting-line advantage got him to the finish line first. Langdon finished second in the four-car final round; the margin of victory was .015 seconds.
Langdon was the No. 1 qualifier at the Four-Wide Nationals. It was his second No. 1 qualifier in five races this season and the 15th of his career. Langdon’s average qualifying position in 2014 is 3.20. He was an excellent qualifier last year when his average qualifying position was 3.75. He had seven No. 1 qualifiers and qualified in the top-five positions at 19 of the 24 events last year.
Prior to reaching the final round in Charlotte, Langdon’s silver Al-Anabi car was running well in 2014 despite winning just three rounds in the season’s first four races. He qualified second at the season-opening race in Pomona, Calif., but lost a very close drag race to his teammate, Khalid alBalooshi (3.73 to 3.76 seconds with a .007 margin of victory), in the second round and alBalooshi went on to win the race. In Phoenix, he was the No. 4 qualifier but lost to race winner Antron Brown in the second round when the engine on the Al-Anabi dragster dropped a cylinder. In Gainesville, Langdon claimed his first No. 1 qualifier of the season but lost in the first round. The silver Al-Anabi dragster has been competing at a very high level all season despite some unfortunate racing luck.
Langdon prior to Houston:
“I feel great about what’s going on with our race team right now. The Al-Anabi car has definitely been making big improvements in the areas that we’ve been working on for the last few races. Even though we struggled at the beginning of the year, we still felt like we had a great car. We just missed a couple calls on Sunday. We were able to make a lot good calls on Sunday in Charlotte, and the car responded well. Counting qualifying, we made seven great runs in Charlotte, and the car went down the track throughout the weekend so we’re hoping to carry that momentum into Houston this weekend.
“We did well in Houston last year; the Al-Anabi car was good, and we were the runner-up. We made a little mistake in the final, and the car smoked the tires at the starting line. We were able to learn from that, and that actually helped us get the car running quite a bit better throughout the rest of the year. Just knowing a couple little changes that we made for that final didn’t work taught us something, and we were able to avoid those mistakes the rest of the year. We’re going into Houston this year with good thoughts and a lot of confidence. We’re hoping this Al-Anabi team can get the job done this year.
“The Top Fuel class is tough this year; it’s really been tough for the last few years. Teams have to get the maximum potential out of the car every time it pulls up to the starting line. Sometimes, you get a little bit too aggressive, and it smokes the tires. With all of the things the Al-Anabi team has been tinkering with throughout this year, the early part of this season has been a learning process for the crew chiefs (Brian Husen and alBalooshi crew chief Jason McCulloch) and for Alan (team manager Alan Johnson). Sometimes it just takes a couple races to get things figured out, and that’s what’s happened to the Al-Anabi team this year. The first couple of races, the cars were running well…..we just didn’t have the consistency we were used to having, and now that we’re getting things figured out, that consistency is coming back around. Hopefully, the results will follow.”
Khalid alBalooshi, Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel Dragster (gold):
Dubai native Khalid alBalooshi enters the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Spring Nationals in sixth place in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings. He trails fifth-place Tony Schumacher by 26 points and leads seventh-place Spencer Massey by two points.
AlBalooshi prior to Houston:
“Our Al-Anabi car was very good in Charlotte (two weeks ago); we made good runs in qualifying and on race day. I think our car will also be fast this weekend. We started out the season perfectly, but after that, we had some tough races. I have been talking with our crew chief, Jason (McCulloch), and after Charlotte, I think we have our hot rod back. From what we did in Charlotte, I think we are getting close to running the way we did earlier this year. I know our car will keep on getting better and better and better. I am looking forward to racing again this weekend – we were good at this race last year; we can be good again this time.”
