Al-Anabi Doubles down for the AAA NHRA Midwest Nationals
Madison, IL – Shawn Langdon enters the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals, the third of six events that comprise the 
Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs, in a tie for first place in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings. Langdon and Doug Kalitta lead third-place Spencer Massey by two points. The top-four positions are separated by just 35 points – less than two rounds of racing.
Langdon prior to St. Louis:
“We’ve been making good runs since the Countdown began; we just haven’t gotten a win yet which is not disappointing because we know the Al-Anabi car is capable of winning. We are just waiting for our time. We head to St. Louis tied for the points lead, and that’s all we can ask. We just want to be able to have control in our hands; we don’t want to leave it up to anyone else. As long as we feel we have a shot, we have the control. If we win the race, we leave with the points lead, and that’s all we can ask.
“Of course we wanted to win in Dallas last weekend, and we were a little bit disappointed. We just have a couple of things we need to look at as far as our car dropping cylinders. It’s not anything bad; we just have to work a little bit harder to find the small problem we have. It’s better to find that problem now and address it rather than a couple of races from now. The Kalittas have had a great car this season, and they have deserved a win for a couple of years. It was just a matter of time before that team won again.
“Things will start shaping up for the last two races going to Las Vegas and Pomona during these next two weeks in St. Louis and Reading (Pa.) It’s crucial that we continue qualifying well, keep getting the small bonus points and continue going rounds and keep ourselves in contention. I think we’ll kind of start seeing the top-five cars pull away from the bottom five in these next two races. Then as we get into Las Vegas and Pomona, we’ll probably only have three or four cars in contention. Any of the top-10 cars have the capability of being a top-five car, and I think the next two races will determine which five cars those will be.
“For the Al-Anabi Team, we go to St. Louis this weekend, and we’ll stick with our game plan. We need to stick with what we’ve been doing and continue to race smart. We have been running well, and the Al-Anabi team is doing well so we just need to keep the same game plan and continue to race smart.”
Khalid alBalooshi, Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel Dragster (gold):
Khalid alBalooshi enters the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals, the third of six events that comprise the Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs, in ninth place in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings. He trails eighth-place Anton Brown by four points and leads 10th-place Steve Torrence by three points.
AlBalooshi did not qualify for the AAA NHRA FallNationals; it was the first time in his Top Fuel career that he failed to qualify for a race. Friday’s qualifying sessions were rained out reducing the event to two qualifying attempts. Reigning Top Fuel champion Antron Brown failed to qualify for the Charlotte race making alBalooshi and Brown the only two Top Fuel drivers in the Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs to miss a race so far.
AlBalooshi prior to St. Louis:
“The Countdown has been hard on our Al-Anabi team. We had a good car in Charlotte, but we lost in the first round. Then in Dallas, we missed the race. The Countdown is the time to win, but it has been hard for our team. After Dallas, our team stayed to test, and the test was perfect. We made three good runs in good conditions. On all three runs, the Al-Anabi car went down the track and was fast.
“Jason (crew chief Jason McCulloch) changed a little bit in the tune-up. I don’t know exactly, but he found something that makes him think our car will be one of the best in the show this week in St. Louis. I am excited to get to qualify on Friday because I know I have a good hot rod that will be in the show next week. Everybody is excited – especially Jason. He thinks he came up with a different idea on Monday. After the first run, he was very happy, and after that, the car got better and better.
“The main thing I feel is that our Al-Anabi car is coming back for the last four races in the Countdown. We need to do a lot to get back where we were in the Countdown, but we have to do the best we can do from the first qualifying run and through race day.”
