Al-Anabi Racing Team – Charlotte NHRA Post-Event Wrap-Up
Shawn Langdon – Al- Anabi Racing Top Fuel Dragster (silver)
Qualifying: Shawn Langdon was the No. 1 qualifier at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals; it was his second No. 1 qualifier of the season and the 15th of his career. During the Friday afternoon qualifying session, Langdon ran the quickest pass of the weekend by far with a 3.753-second effort.
Eliminations: Langdon advanced to his first final round of the season; it was his second-consecutive final round at this event. 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.
In the semifinals, the steering wheel in the silver Al-Anabi car came off its shaft 800 feet into the run with the car moving at some 300 mph. Langdon steered the car by grasping its steering shaft. He alternated between steering the car by the steering shaft, grabbing the brake and deploying the parachutes. When the car came to a stop, it grazed the right retaining wall. Still, Langdon recorded the quickest pass of the round and had lane choice in the final round. The Al-Anabi crew replaced the broken bolt that held the steering-wheel assembly’s quick-release system together and repaired the car easily in time for the final round.
Unofficial Point Standings: With the final-round appearance, Langdon moved from seventh to fourth in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings. He trails third-place Steve Torrence by 17 points and leads fifth-place Tony Schumacher by 14 points.
Langdon on Charlotte: “It was pretty scary when the steering wheel came off. Everything happened so fast. The first instinct as a driver is, no matter what, to get that car to the finish line and still win the round. It probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but when the steering wheel came off, all I could think of was to grab the steering shaft and try to hold it as straight as I could. Fortunately, we were still able to get the round win. It grazed the wall in the shutdown area, but it didn’t really do too much damage to the car. When I got out of the car, my hands were shaking. When everything happens so quickly like that, your instincts take over, and you don’t think about it. When the adrenaline starts to wear off, you start to realize what just happened, and it’s scary to think what could have happened. Fortunately, nothing bad happened. The car is fine; I’m fine, and we were able to get the car back for the final round. We made a great run in the final; we’ve really turned this Al-Anabi car around. We made seven really good runs this weekend, and the car is running strong. I think we’re back to where we were last year with a lot of promise and hope. I think we’re very close to a victory.”
Khalid alBalooshi – Al- Anabi Racing Top Fuel Dragster (gold)
Qualifying: Khalid alBalooshi was the No. 3 qualifier at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals; it was his best qualifying effort of the season so far. During the Friday afternoon qualifying session, alBalooshi’s 3.793-second run at 324.98 mph was his best of the four qualifying attempts.
Eliminations: AlBalooshi defeated Richie Crampton and Sidnei Frigo in the first round of eliminations before losing to J.R. Todd and Doug Kalitta in the four-wide semifinals.
Unofficial Point Standings: AlBalooshi remains sixth 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 on Charlotte: “Our team did a good job this weekend in Charlotte; we did a good job in qualifying – our best of the season so far. Today, our Al-Anabi car had some problems, but we made some good runs this weekend, and I think we are headed in the right direction. I think we are getting our hot rod back, and I am looking forward to racing in Houston. (in two weeks)”
Next Race: The Al-Anabi Racing team will be back in action April 25-27, 2014 at the 27th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Spring Nationals near Houston. For additional information, please visit www.nhra.com. For additional information on the Al-Anabi Racing Team, please visit www.alanabiracing.com.
