Team Al-Anabi Atlanta Pre-Race Repors
Shawn Langdon, Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel Dragster (silver):
Reigning NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel champion Shawn Langdon enters the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals in fourth place in the current NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings; it is his highest points position of the season. He trails third-place Steve Torrence by 20 points and leads his teammate, fifth-place Khalid alBalooshi, by 27 points.
After an uncharacteristic slow start to the season, Langdon has advanced to the final round of eliminations and the semifinals at the last two races respectively. One race ago in Houston, Langdon was the No. 3 qualifier. He defeated Troy Buff and then points leader Doug Kalitta before losing to eventual race winner and current points leader Antron Brown in the semifinals.
Langdon has been an excellent qualifier this season; he has qualified in the top-four positions at five of the six races. He has two No. 1 qualifiers this season and 15 in his career. Langdon’s average qualifying position in 2014 is 3.17. He was also an excellent qualifier last year when his average qualifying position was 3.75. He had seven No. 1 qualifiers and qualified in the top-five positions at 19 of the 24 events last year.
Prior to reaching the final round in Charlotte, Langdon’s silver Al-Anabi car was running well despite winning just three rounds in the season’s first four races. He qualified second at the season-opening race in Pomona, Calif., but lost a very close drag race to his teammate, Khalid alBalooshi (3.73 to 3.76 seconds with a .007 margin of victory), in the second round and alBalooshi went on to win the race. In Phoenix, he was the No. 4 qualifier but lost to race winner Antron Brown in the second round when the engine on the Al-Anabi dragster dropped a cylinder. In Gainesville, Langdon claimed his first No. 1 qualifier of the season but lost in the first round. The silver Al-Anabi dragster had been competing at a very high level despite some unfortunate racing luck.
Langdon was the No. 1 qualifier in Atlanta last year. In eliminations, he defeated Morgan Lucas and Brittany Force before losing to current Al-Anabi Racing general manager Brandon Bernstein in the semifinals. The Al-Anabi Racing Team won at Atlanta Dragway in 2010 with driver Larry Dixon.
Langdon prior to Atlanta:
“It’s looking like we may have turned the corner in our season. The Al-Anabi car is definitely responding better to what we’ve been doing. Now it’s just trying to keep progressing and keep that Sunday tune-up going the right direction. We’ve qualified well all season; we’ve just had some inconsistencies on Sunday, but I think we’ve turned the corner now. The car’s definitely running better, and we’re pushing to try to get that first win of the season. Just like any other year, once you get that first win out of the way, we’re hoping more will follow shortly after.
“It’s nice having two team cars that are running well at the same time. The teams can bounce ideas off each other and learn from the other car. That gives us the ability to make some minor adjustments at the last minute if we need to. We were hoping for an all-Al-Anabi final round at the last race (Houston), but we didn’t quite get that done. We’re hoping to get that turned around, too.
“I think we’re ready for the hot-weather tracks that are coming around on the schedule. Last year, we had a great hot-weather tune-up. There were times when we actually had a nice advantage on the field. We struggled a little bit on Friday in Houston with the hotter conditions and the humidity, but we were able to get that worked out by Saturday. We’re still learning and trying things, but I think we’re close enough now and our car is good enough that the heat shouldn’t really affect us. We should be able to run well in whatever conditions we have.”
Khalid alBalooshi, Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel Dragster (gold):
Dubai native Khalid alBalooshi enters the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals in fifth place in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings. He trails his teammate, fourth-place Shawn Langdon, by 27 points and leads sixth-place Tony Schumacher by 28 points.
AlBalooshi advanced to his second final round of the season last month in Houston; he is off to the best start of his three-year Top Fuel career. In the first six races of the season, alBalooshi has a win, a runner-up finish and nine round wins; he is fifth in points. Last year at this time, he had two semifinal appearances, six round wins and was tied for sixth in points. Six races into his 2012 rookie season, he had no round wins and was 13th in points. The first Middle Eastern driver to compete in a major United States Motorsports series has made tremendous progress since his rookie season.
? One race ago in Houston, alBalooshi was the No. 13 qualifier. He defeated Tony Schumacher, Leah Pritchett and Steve Torrence before losing to points leader Antron Brown in the final round of eliminations. AlBalooshi’s gold Al-Anabi dragster was on an excellent pass until the car veered out of the racing groove and smoked the tires when alBalooshi tried to correct it.
AlBalooshi prior to Atlanta:
“I feel very good about what our team has been doing this year. We won the first race but then we had some problems with the tune-up. The last two races have been very good for both Al-Anabi cars. Shawn went to a final round; we went to a final round with the gold Al-Anabi team. I made a mistake in the race with Antron (Points leader Antron Brown in Houston final round); I got the car out of the groove. I am sorry that happened, and I will do my best not to do that again. I think we are getting back to the way we ran in the first race.
“I know everybody on our team is working his hardest; I thank everyone for his hard work. I know my crew chief (Jason McCulloch) is trying his best to make our car one of the best in the show. When the season started, I said I thought we had a good hot rod. I still think that. Our hot rod is very good. Our team is very good. I think we can win another race soon.”
