Al-Anabi Summer Nationals Race Wrap-Up

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

Qualifying:   Shawn Langdon was the No. 3 qualifier at the Toyota NHRA Summer Nationals. During the final round of qualifying Saturday afternoon, Langdon’s 3.761-second effort at 319.67 mph was his best qualifying run.  Langdon has qualified in the top-four positions at seven of the season’s nine races.

Eliminations: Langdon defeated Terry McMillen and Bob Vandergriff before losing to Richie Crampton when the Al-Anabi car smoked the tires almost immediately in the semifinals.  Langdon has two final rounds and two semifinal appearances in the last four races.

Unofficial Point Standings: Langdon moved up one spot to third place in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings.  He trails second-place Antron Brown by 68 points and leads fourth-place Spencer Massey by 40 points.

Langdon on Englishtown: “It was a little disappointing to blow the tires off like that in the semifinals.  The Al-Anabi car was great car this weekend.  We qualified well; we’ve been turning the corner with this tune-up and having a great, competitive car.  It’s tough when you come to a track like this when the air is so good, and you make so much power.  As soon as the track heats up a little but, it can get a little tricky.  We just didn’t compensate enough for that track temperature.  We’re there.  Just like the last couple of weeks, we’re close.  We just need a little race day luck.  We’ll get there eventually.”

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

Qualifying:   Khalid alBalooshi was the No. 6 qualifier at the Toyota NHRA Summer Nationals.  During the final round of qualifying on Saturday, alBalooshi posted a 3.777-second run at 322.27 mph.  It was alBalooshi’s second-best qualifying effort of the season.

Eliminations: AlBalooshi faced Bob Vandergriff in the first round and smoked the tires almost immediately.  Vandergriff smoked his tires as well, but alBalooshi was unable to catch him.  Vandergriff advanced to the quarterfinals.

Unofficial Point Standings: AlBalooshi remains sixth in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings.  He trails fifth-place Steve Torrence by 77 points and leads seventh-place Tony Schumacher by eight points.

AlBalooshi on Englishtown: “The Al-Anabi car was good until today.  I think we are very close.  Everything has been fine.  It surprised everybody when it smoked the tires especially Jason McCulloch (crew chief).  Everybody was surprised the car smoked the tires, but sometimes when it is not your day, it is not your day.  The Al-Anabi team will try again in two weeks.”