Al-Anabi Ready to Repeat 2013 Norwalk Victory
Shawn Langdon, Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel Dragster (silver):
Reigning NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel world champion Shawn Langdon enters the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in third place in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings. He trails second-place Antron Brown by 128 points and leads fourth-place Spencer Massey by 68.
The Al-Anabi team won the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals four of the last five years. The team won with Larry Dixon in 2009 and ’10, Del Worsham in 2011 and Khalid alBalooshi last year. One year ago at Norwalk, Langdon was the No. 5 qualifier. He defeated J.R. Todd and Bob Vandergriff before losing to Doug Kalitta in the semifinals.
Langdon prior to Norwalk:
“We have all of the ducks; now we just have to get all our ducks in a row. We’ve been addressing problems with some things we’ve been doing at the last couple of races. We’re kind of fixing one problem after another because when we fix one thing, it affects something else so then we move on to that one because it’s all related We really think we’ve gotten to the base of it now.
“We’re not far off; it could take us another race or two to get completely back in the swing of things, but we might also see some fast improvement. Some things we changed during the off season that we thought would work have affected our performance so we’ve kind of eliminated those issues and gone back to some stuff we know will work so we can get back on track. It does seem like we’re kind of chasing our tail, but even though the results haven’t shown it in the last couple of races, we are definitely making progress. We all know it’s just a matter of time before we have the Al-Anabi car that won the championship last year back.
“The Al-Anabi team has had a lot of success at Norwalk, and we really couldn’t be going back there at a better time. We have tons of great Norwalk data, and we can definitely use that information for both of Al-Anabi cars. Hopefully the first couple of runs go well, and things fall our way. If the car responds quickly to the changes we’ve made, I don’t see any reason why the Al-Anabi team can’t repeat as Norwalk champions.”
Khalid alBalooshi, Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel Dragster (gold):
Third-year Top Fuel driver Khalid alBalooshi enters the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in eighth place in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings. He trails seventh-place Brittany Force by 18 points and leads ninth-place Richie Crampton by 20 points.
AlBalooshi is the defending champion of the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals. Last year, He was the No. 10 qualifier, but on race day, he was stellar. He defeated Antron Brown, Chris Karamesines, Clay Millican and Doug Kalitta on the way to the second win of his Top Fuel career. The Al-Anabi team won the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals four of the last five years. The team won with Larry Dixon in 2009 and ’10, Del Worsham in 2011 and alBalooshi last year.
AlBalooshi prior to Norwalk:
“I am very excited to back to Norwalk this week. From last year when I won the race there, I have been thinking about when I go back there. I think it will feel good to get back to Norwalk because I know I have done this before. I will not have any thoughts about not being able to win there because I won there last year, and that will give me an advantage. Norwalk is also a very good race track for our team so that is good, too.
With Jason (crew chief Jason McCulloch) and the rest of our Al-Anabi team, I am always confident. I know we are still finding out a lot of things about the car, but everyone is doing their job to get our car back where it needs to be. The Al-Anabi team is putting everything together to give me the best car it can, especially now that we found a big problem in New Hampshire. We are focusing on one or two things we need to do to get our hot rod back. We know how to make the car keep getting better. I still think you will see a lot from the Al-Anabi team very soon.”
