Team Al-Anabi Readies for Las Vegas

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

AlBalooshi prior to Las Vegas: 

“I feel good about the race this weekend in Las Vegas.  The Al-Anabi team is strong; both cars are strong. I think we are going to Las Vegas to do something good this weekend.  I know what has happened so far this year, but I am not worried about our team.  I know we are one of the best teams. We have a chance to win any race; on any weekend one of our cars can win the race.

“I feel this way because of what I have been seeing in the races.  When our cars are running well, they have some of the best times.  Both cars have been good this year – sometimes better than everybody else, sometimes very close to the top people in the show.  So when I drive to Las Vegas on Thursday, I will feel very excited to race this weekend.  I cannot wait to get there and get back in my car.  After what happened to our team last race (first-round loss in Gainesville, Fla.), I am ready to start the weekend and keep going.”

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

Langdon prior to Las Vegas: 

“I still have a lot of confidence in the Al-Anabi car and the Al-Anabi team; we still have a car that can go out there and win a race.  The results haven’t shown it yet this year, but we have a great car, and we are able to make good runs just about any time.  With the weather conditions looking pretty good for this weekend in Las Vegas, I think we’ll be able to put down some good runs this weekend and then get a little bit of racing luck on Sunday and go some rounds.

“It’s tough in Top Fuel.  We really haven’t done anything where we’ve made huge mistakes.  For some reason on Sunday, the Al-Anabi car hasn’t cooperated like it did last year when we always seemed to make a lot of good runs on race day.  We haven’t had that much success yet, but it’s still early in the year.  We’re not hanging our heads about anything.  We have some things we can improve with the car so we’re not discouraged by any means.

“At some point in the next few races, though, we need to get the Al-Anabi car back in the winner’s circle so the rest of the competition doesn’t run away in the points.  We know we need to start making good runs on Sunday; that’s what our team is used to doing.  We need to keep our focus and get back to going rounds like we did last year; then the wins will take care of themselves.  We have the mentality that we can win every race we enter, but it doesn’t always work out.  We just have to do the best job we can, try to qualify well on Friday and Saturday and do our best on race day – that’s really all you can do.”