Team Al-Anabi prepares for Thunder on The Mountain!
Bristol, TN – Team notes for the upcoming race at Thunder Valley.
Shawn Langdon, Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel Dragster (silver):
? Shawn Langdon enters the Ford NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in first place in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings. He leads second-place Tony Schumacher by four points. It is the first time Langdon has led the point standings since the first race of the season.
? Langdon won the Toyota NHRA Summernationals earlier this month in Englishtown, N.J. It was his second-consecutive win, his third win of the season and the fourth of his career. After qualifying No. 8, Langdon defeated T.J. Zizzo, Clay Millican, Spencer Massey and his teammate, Khalid alBalooshi in the final round of eliminations.
Langdon prior to Bristol:
“The last couple of races have been really good for the Al-Anabi team because we won at Topeka and Englishtown. But really, both Al-Anabi cars have been running well for a while now. We’ve been winning rounds each weekend and getting to semifinals and finals. When you do that a lot, you know the wins will come soon, and for us, we reached that point. It’s definitely gratifying that the results are coming now after all the hard work this team has done over the last year or so. Alan (team manager Alan Johnson) and the crew chiefs have changed some things around with our tune-ups and the cars are responding like they want them to. We are definitely having fun this season.
“Momentum is huge in the sport of drag racing. Drag racing is a very streaky sport. Just like any other sport, when you can get on a roll and start winning races, it just builds that confidence. When you have that confidence in yourself and in your team, nothing can beat that. Going into the next race, coming off the two wins, we have got a lot of confidence. We felt strongly from day one about the direction of the team and what we have been doing and trying to accomplish. But just seeing those results, you know, it definitely pays off for me as a driver every time I roll up to the starting line.
“But for all these crew guys that put in the hard work and the hard hours – especially in these summer months when it’s long days, it’s draining, it’s 100 degrees outside, and they are working so hard – they just want to give that little bit extra effort to make sure the car is done just perfectly. They all know what our goal is, and because nobody wants to be the weak link on the team, everyone wants to give 110 percent to the team to make sure we can all accomplish something together.
“With the way the Al-Anabi car is running, going to Bristol – it’s my favorite track on the tour – I really like our chances this weekend in Thunder Valley. Bristol is my favorite track on the tour because of the setting and the way it sits between the mountains. When the cars hit the gas, the echo off the mountains, the whole setting of driving into the mountains, it’s just my favorite track on the tour.”
Khalid alBalooshi, Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel Dragster (gold):
? Khalid alBalooshi enters the Ford NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in a career-best fifth place in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings. He trails fourth-place Spencer Massey by 71 points and leads sixth-place Doug Kalitta by 34 points.
? AlBalooshi advanced to the final round of eliminations earlier this month at the Toyota NHRA Summernationals. It was his first final-round of the season and the second of his Top Fuel career. AlBalooshi defeated Larry Dixon, Dom Lagana and Tony Schumacher before losing to his teammate, Shawn Langdon in the final round.
? AlBalooshi has been a solid qualifier this season; in Englishtown, N.J., he was the No. 2 qualifier equaling his career best qualifying effort at Houston Raceway Park in April. The Toyota NHRA Summernationals was the fifth-consecutive race at which one of the Al-Anabi cars qualified in the top-two positions. AlBalooshi has qualified in the top six at seven of the season’s nine races.
AlBalooshi prior to Bristol:
“Our team had a very good race in Englishtown. We were very close to winning the race, but Shawn beat us in the final round. We were happy for him, but we wanted to win the race. Our Al-Anabi team is running well, and our team is doing a very good job. Everybody on our team is doing his job perfectly, and I am happy that we are No. 5 in points. That is good, but we can do better. With every race, we get a little bit better, and my crew chief (Jason McCulloch) gets a little bit better. If we keep winning rounds, a race win will come. We just need to keep running like we are running and find our luck. And then we can win the race.”
