Al-Anabi Racing Team pre-race Report: AAA NHRA Fallnationals

Khalid alBalooshi, Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel Dragster (gold):

Khalid alBalooshi enters the AAA NHRA Fallnationals, the second of six events that comprise  the Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs, in seventh place in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings.  He trails sixth-place Clay Millican by 17 points and leads eighth-place Bob Vandergriff by 36 points.

AlBalooshi entered the Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs as the No. 5 seed and qualified fourth in Charlotte last weekend.  However, a first-round loss to Doug Kalitta dropped the Dubai native down to seventh place.  Still, with the tight point standings, he only trails the points lead by 87 points with five races remaining in the NHRA Playoffs.

AlBalooshi won the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio in July.  It was his first win of the season and the second of his Top Fuel career. He has one win, two final rounds and four semifinals in 19 races this season. The Dubai native has 22 round wins in the season’s first 19 races.  Last year, alBalooshi won a total of 14 rounds of racing over the entire season.  His sophomore season is going much better than his rookie season in 2012.

AlBalooshi has been a solid qualifier this season; he qualified second, his career best, at both Houston Raceway Park and Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, N.J.  AlBalooshi has qualified in the top six at 13 of the season’s 19 races.

The Texas Motorplex is one of only four tracks at which the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series competes at which the Al-Anabi Racing Team has never won a race. The other three are Bandimere Speedway near Denver, Gateway Motorsports Park near St. Louis and New England Dragway in Epping, N.H.  One year ago at this event, alBalooshi was the No. 6 qualifier; he defeated Terry McMillen before losing to Brandon Bernstein in the quarterfinals.

AlBalooshi prior to Dallas: 

“Charlotte was tough on our team, but it was hard on a lot of teams.  We dropped two places in the points, but the points are still very close.  Both Al-Anabi cars were very good last week.  We made some very good runs; our teams were two of the best in the show, but we had problems on Sunday.  I know the last five races will be very good for our team.  The Countdown is not the time to lose, it is the time to win.  I think we will be better in the next five races. The next races are big for everybody in the Countdown.  A lot of the good racers lost early last week, but this week, everyone will be fighting for the Championship.

“We are still in the race for the championship, and I feel very good about our team.  In Dallas this week, we must do the best we can do.  We do not change what we do especially with how the Al-Anabi car has been running.  The car has been good all year.  We want to keep doing the same thing.  We go to Dallas this week and do the best we can do.   I thank everyone on the Al-Anabi team for his hard work, and I hope we can have a very good race this week.”

Shawn Langdon, Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel Dragster (silver):

Shawn Langdon enters the AAA NHRA Fallnationals, the second of six events that comprise the Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs, in second place in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings.  He trails points leader Spencer Massey by 24 points with five races remaining in the NHRA Playoffs.

Langdon entered last week’s race in Charlotte as the top seed in the Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs and qualified third.  A first-round loss to Bob Vandergriff relegated him to second place in the point standings trailing new points leader Spencer Massey by 24 points.  In 2011, Al-Anabi Racing driver Del Worsham also began the Countdown in Charlotte as the top seed and qualified fourth.   Worsham also suffered a first-round loss to Vandergriff and left Charlotte trailing Massey, the new points leader, by 22 points.

During the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals over Labor Day Weekend, Alan Johnson Racing announced a five-year contract extension with the State of Qatar, His Excellency Sheikh Khalid Bin Hamad Al Thani and Al-Anabi Racing.  Alan Johnson and Alan Johnson Racing will now manage the Top Fuel portion of the Al-Anabi Racing Team at least through the 2018 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season.

Langdon has five wins in eight final appearances this season, and he has advanced to at least the semifinals at 12 of the last 15 races.  He visited the winner’s circle at the season-opening NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Calif., in February, Topeka, Kan., in May, Englishtown, N.J., in June, Sonoma, Calif., in July and Indianapolis on Labor Day weekend.  He has six-career Top Fuel wins.

Langdon has also been a solid qualifier this season; his average qualifying position is 4.53.  He has four No. 1 qualifiers taking top-qualifier honors at Charlotte1, Atlanta Dragway, Topeka and Seattle, and he has qualified in the top-five positions at 14 of the 19 events this year. Langdon has 10 career No. 1 qualifiers.

The Texas Motorplex is one of only four tracks at which the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series competes at which the Al-Anabi Racing Team has never won a race. The other three are Bandimere Speedway near Denver, Gateway Motorsports Park near St. Louis and New England Dragway in Epping, N.H.  One year ago at this event, Langdon was the No. 1 qualifier; he defeated Scott Palmer before losing to Antron Brown in the quarterfinals.

Langdon prior to Dallas: 

“We had a minor setback in Charlotte, but we still feel good about things.  The Al-Anabi car is still running strong, and team morale is still up so it’s not anything we’re going to let get us down.  We just have to keep working like we have been, keep digging and keep fighting.  Hopefully, we can get that No. 1 spot back at the end of the Dallas event.

“This weekend is just another opportunity for us to do what we do.  We don’t need to change anything or alter our strategy.  We need to keep doing what we’ve been doing all year, and that’s making hard, strong runs in qualifying and being aggressive.  We need to race smart this weekend.  Last year in Dallas, we went into the final qualifying session not qualified, and we were able to get that No. 1 qualifying position.  We know we’re capable of making good, strong runs down there.  When it gets hot down there, the track gets tricky so we just need to race smart this weekend.

“The point standings are really tight now, and this is why NHRA created the Countdown format with just six races.  They wanted the points to be tight, they wanted the competition as close as possible where every round matters and every qualifying run matters.  It’s definitely interesting, and all the cars in the top 10 are still capable of winning.  Now it’s a matter of not making mistakes.  If you make a mistake, there’s a good chance you could drop three, four or even five spots in the point standings.  So we just need to continue doing what we’ve been doing since the middle of the season.  We just need to be in the finals or semifinals every week.  We need to go rounds and get those small bonus points, and we’ll be OK.”