Shawn Langdon takes Team Al-Anabi to Top Fuel Topeka Championship
Topeka, KS – Qualifying: Shawn Langdon was the No. 1 qualifier at the NHRA Kansas Nationals. It was his second consecutive No. 1 
qualifier, his third of the season and the ninth of his career. During the first round of qualifying on Saturday, Langdon recorded a 3.767-second pass at 322.50 mph to take the No. 1 position.
Eliminations: Langdon won the NHRA Kansas Nationals, his second win of the season and the third of his career. In eliminations, Langdon defeated Pat Dakin, Steve Torrence, Spencer Massey and Tony Schumacher on his way to the winner’s circle. Langdon took the race win in the 100th start of his Top Fuel career. Langdon’s final-round elapsed time, 3.750 seconds, was the quickest time of the entire race weekend.
Unofficial Point Standings: Langdon moves up one position to second place in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings. He now trails points leader Tony Schumacher by 34 points and leads third-place Antron Brown by 38 points.
Langdon on Topeka: “The Al-Anabi crew guys just did a phenomenal job this weekend. We’ve been close for the last few races; the car has been running well, but we just haven’t been able to finish it out on Sunday. The Al-Anabi crew had the fire in their eyes today. We didn’t want to go four races in a row feeling we had the car to win and not getting it done.
“Sheikh Khalid (team owner His Excellency Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani) and Alan Johnson (team manager) put together a phenomenal team, and I’m just happy to be a part of it. I love driving for this team. They don’t settle for second place; they always want to be the best, they always want to be No. 1 and have the fastest car. I love racing for Sheikh Khalid. I love racing for Alan Johnson. Brian Husen, my crew chief, we have great team chemistry. They did a great job before I got there, and they’re doing a great job now. I’m just lucky to be the one driving the car.”
Khalid alBalooshi – Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel Dragster
Qualifying: Khalid alBalooshi was the No. 4 qualifier in Topeka. During the Friday evening qualifying session, alBalooshi recorded a 3.794-second pass at 324.44 mph to claim the No. 4 position.
Eliminations: AlBalooshi defeated Brittany Force in the first round before losing to Spencer Massey in the quarterfinals.
Unofficial Point Standings: AlBalooshi remains sixth in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings. He trails fifth-place Doug Kalitta by 28 points and leads seventh-place Brandon Bernstein, also by 28 points.
AlBalooshi on Topeka: “Our car was very good again this weekend. We made four very good runs in qualifying, and today, we made two more good runs. Spencer beat us by a little bit in the second round. I still need to do a better job with the lights, and I am working on that. Our Al-Anabi car is very good, and I know everything will be OK. Our day will come because we are getting better and better every time. We can try again in New Jersey.”
Next Race: The Al-Anabi Racing team will be back in action May 31-June 2 at the 44th annual Toyota NHRA Summernationals in Englishtown, N.J. For additional information, please visit www.nhra.com. For additional information on the Al-Anabi Racing Team, please visit www.alanabiracing.com.
