Al-Anabi Racing Chasing Problems Headed into Kansas Nationals
Shawn Langdon, Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel Dragster (silver):
Reigning NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel champion Shawn Langdon enters the NHRA Kansas 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 42 points and leads fifth-place Spencer Massey by seven points.
Langdon is the defending champion of the NHRA Kansas Nationals. One year ago, he was the No. 1 qualifier; he defeated Pat Dakin, Steve Torrence, Spencer Massey and Tony Schumacher on his way to his second victory of the 2013 season. The Al-Anabi Racing Team also won at Heartland Park Topeka in 2009 with driver Larry Dixon.
After an uncharacteristic slow start to the season, Langdon has advanced to the final round of eliminations, the semifinals and the quarterfinals at the last three races respectively. One race ago at Atlanta Dragway on Monday, Langdon was the No. 8 qualifier. He defeated Richie Crampton before losing to points leader Doug Kalitta in a second-round matchup with was decided by three thousandths of a second.
Langdon prior to Topeka:
“We’ve been chasing a couple of things in the Al-Anabi tune-up for the last few races, and we strongly believe we have addressed a couple of those problems now. With the exception of a couple of runs this past weekend when things came up with the weather and the track, we were able to make some strong runs when things went right for us. So that’s definitely promising for the Al-Anabi team. We still haven’t gotten that first win of the season yet, but going to a familiar track like Topeka where we’ve had a lot of success and going back as the defending champion, we’ll probably have more confidence rolling into Topeka this week than any other track.
“It’s always good when you go to a place where you’re familiar with the track and the weather conditions. Last year, we made some really strong runs at Topeka where we were able to separate ourselves from the field by a couple hundredths of a second. Hopefully we can duplicate what we did there last year, learn from what we’ve been working on with the Al-Anabi car this year and continue to make strong runs this weekend – especially on Sunday.
“Right now, we’re getting all the bugs worked out and progressing. It’s all about working hard to take these Al-Anabi cars to the next level. If you get complacent and become content with what you have, the competition will pass you. We had a great year last year, and at times, the Al-Anabi car was dominant. We’re trying to get the car that much stronger for the future. Sometimes that’s a learning process where you have to take one step back so you can take two steps forward. We’re definitely in that stage right now, but we still feel very confident that we are close to having our championship car back.”
Khalid alBalooshi, Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel Dragster (gold):
Dubai native Khalid alBalooshi enters the NHRA Kansas Nationals in sixth place in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings. He trails fifth-place Spencer Massey by 41 points and leads seventh-place Tony Schumacher by six points.
One race ago at Atlanta Dragway, alBalooshi was the No. 12 qualifier and lost to Tony Schumacher in the first round of eliminations Monday morning.
AlBalooshi was the No. 4 qualifier at Topeka last year. In eliminations, he defeated Brittany Force before losing to Spencer Massey in the quarterfinals. The Al-Anabi Racing Team won at Heartland Park Topeka last year with driver Shawn Langdon and in 2009 with driver Larry Dixon.
AlBalooshi prior to Topeka:
“Our team did not have its best luck last week in Atlanta, but we did the best we could. The weather was hard on everyone. The track was tricky. We did our best, but it wasn’t good enough. I am happy we are going to the race again this week because we have a good hot rod. Our team does a good job in Topeka; Shawn won the race there last year, and our gold Al-Anabi car was also good. I think everyone on our team is excited to go to Topeka because we do a good job at that track. We hope we can find our racing luck this week.”
