AL-ANABI RACING READY TO ROCK IN ROCKINGHAM
(9-11-2009) ROCKINGHAM, North Carolina – Considered the most prestigious stop on the National Guard ADRL tour, this weekend’s Flowmaster Dragstock VI at Rockingham Dragway promises to be the biggest, quickest and fastest event in the storied history of the ADRL’s five-year history. Throughout the 2009 season, there have been a number of performance marks set in the organization’s five professional categories, and at the forefront of those record setting efforts have been the Pro Nitrous superpower of Al-Anabi Racing. Yet there is no facility that lends itself to record-breaking runs more so than Steve Earwood’s legendary Rockingham Dragway; so when the two combine, Al-Anabi Racing and “The Rock”, it’s bound to be a historic occasion.
Currently No. 2 in the SPEEDTECH ADRL Battle for the Belts points standings, Shannon “The Iceman” Jenkins will lead the Al-Anabi team into Rockingham, looking to repeat his performance in 2006 when consistency led him to the winner’s circle. Also on task for the all-time winningest driver in the National Guard ADRL will be the crew chief responsibilities on teammate Mike Castellana’s wicked ’70.5 Chevy Camaro which has quickly shown itself as potentially the meanest nitrous-assisted hot rod on the property at the last two races.
“Rockingham Dragway is a great facility with a lot of history,” said Jenkins. “Most important for this team this weekend will be consistency, and going rounds. We go to every one of these races intent on winning the deal, but we’re taking it one round at a time and looking to put a pair of Al-Anabi Racing cars in the final on Saturday night.
“Currently, we have all four cars in the Top 8 of the SPEEDTECH ADRL Battle for the Belts points, which has been our priority from day one and will continue to be our focus this weekend. Rockingham in the fall always presents us with ideal conditions, and I’m confident that these SPEEDTECH Nitrous/Reher-Morrison powered hot rods are going to be hard to handle this weekend.”
Following Jenkins in the Pro Nitrous points standings are teammates Mike Castellana and Khalid Al-Balooshi. Castellana, who is responsible for two ADRL victories for Al-Anabi in 2009, and Balooshi made history for the team in St. Louis when they created the first-ever all Al-Anabi Racing final round have every intention of duplicating that situation in Rockingham.
Currently occupying the No. 7 slot, though, is Al-Anabi’s own Burton Auxier, who will look to go deep into elimination rounds this weekend to secure his spot in the championship deciding shootout at the ADRL World Finals in Dallas next month.
“We’ve got this new ’68 Firebird running very well,” said Auxier. “There’s still a lot left in it, but we’ve made a lot of gains in terms of consistency and being able to repeat on race day. In Columbus, I think we had the car to beat; we were in the low 3.90’s every time we let the clutch out, but I got a little bit overzealous in the semis and went red. We’ll have it together this weekend, though, that’s for sure.”
Auxier and Balooshi will both be looking for their first ADRL Pro Nitrous victory, and if their past performances are any indication – they’re due.
The National Guard ADRL will a continue with their new race schedule during ADRL Flowmaster Dragstock VI this weekend at Rockingham Dragway with three qualifying sessions on Friday, followed by a final qualifying shot early on Saturday and eliminations thereafter.
