AL BALOOSHI TOP TOYOTA IN SONOMA NHRA QUALIFYING
SONOMA, CA – For the second straight week, Khalid alBalooshi was the top Toyota in NHRA Top Fuel qualifying on Saturday with a 
fourth-place showing in his Al-Anabi Racing Toyota dragster in preparation for Sunday’s Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.
AlBalooshi registered a 3.789-second pass in Friday night’s qualifying to secure the number four seed where he will match up with fellow Toyota driver Brandon Bernstein in the first round on Sunday. The second-year Top Fuel driver won earlier this month in Norwalk.
Four more Toyota-sponsored dragsters will join alBalooshi in the field on Sunday, led by his Al-Anabi teammate and current point leader Shawn Langdon, who qualified sixth. Langdon earned three bonus points in qualifying to extend his point lead to 24 heading into eliminations.
Reigning world champion Antron Brown is right behind Langdon in seventh. Morgan Lucas topped the final qualifying session and was second in Friday’s opening session to earn five bonus points while placing eighth overall, while his Morgan Lucas Racing teammate Bernstein qualified 13th.
Cruz Pedregon, winner of the most recent event in Denver last weekend, led the Toyota Camry Funny Car drivers in qualifying with a 4.102-second run, good for 10th. He will enter tomorrow’s race in second place in the point race. Tony Pedregon placed 13th, and Kalitta teammates Del Worsham and Alexis DeJoria placed 14th and 16th.
Today’s qualifications show can be seen on ESPN tonight from 7:00 – 9:30 p.m., while Sunday’s Mello Yello Drag Racing Series eliminations are scheduled to run on ESPN2 from 8:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. (all times EDT).
