The Al-Anabi Racing Team – Sonoma, Calif. NHRA Post-Event Wrap-Up
TOP FUEL WINNER: Khalid alBalooshi – Al- Anabi Racing Top Fuel Dragster (gold)
Qualifying: Khalid alBalooshi was the No. 8 qualifier at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals. During the Friday evening qualifying session, alBalooshi recorded a 3.828-second pass at 316.52 mph.
Eliminations: AlBalooshi raced to his second win of the season and the fourth of his career on his 35th birthday. He defeated Billy Torrence, Clay Millican, Richie Crampton and his teammate, Shawn Langdon on his way to the winner’s circle. After the winner’s circle celebration, alBalooshi gave the race-win trophy to NHRA legend Ed “The Ace” McCulloch who spent the weekend with the team in Sonoma. Ed McCulloch is Al-Anabi crew chief Jason McCulloch’s father.
Unofficial Point Standings: AlBalooshi moved up one spot to eighth place in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings. He now trails seventh-place Brittany Force by 23 points and leads ninth-place Richie Crampton by 49 points.
AlBalooshi on Sonoma: “Winning on my birthday is very special for me. Really, I don’t feel much because I was racing my teammate, but this is a very big race for our team. This trophy is the best birthday present I could get, and it came from my crew chief Jason McCulloch and all my crew guys. It was a close race with Shawn. I saw him at half-track, and I thought, ‘Oh No.’ From there, he smoked the tires a little bit, and we won the race. I am very happy. I thank everyone on our team for his hard work, and I thank Sheikh Khalid for giving me this opportunity.”
Shawn Langdon – Al- Anabi Racing Top Fuel Dragster (silver)
Qualifying: Shawn Langdon was the No. 10 qualifier at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals. During the first round of qualifying on Friday, Langdon reached the finish line in 3.890 seconds at 313.37 mph.
Eliminations: Langdon advanced to his fifth final round of the season. He defeated J.R. Todd, Doug Kalitta and Tony Schumacher before losing to his teammate, Khalid alBalooshi in the final round of eliminations. When he reached the semifinals, Langdon clinched his spot in the Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs.
Unofficial Point Standings: Langdon remains third in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings. He trails second-place Antron Brown by 112 points and leads fourth-place Tony Schumacher by 154 points.
Langdon on Sonoma: “Overall, it was a good day. Our car improved throughout the weekend and we made some big strides going to the finals. This was a brand new car that we were planning to bring out at Indianapolis, but brought it out a little early. It was responding really well. We might have been a little aggressive in the final. We just hazed the tires at about 500 feet. That left lane was a little tricky, but we were confident going in that we could run well in that lane. It was a great weekend for the Al-Anabi team, though, both cars made the finals, so it was a win-win regardless of who won, but I just wish it would have come in the other lane. It was nice to clinch our berth in the Countdown. We would have liked to have the extra points, but we gained on first and second-place and even if we finish third, we can close on that lead pretty quickly.”
