Team Al-Anabi Struggles at Carlyle Tools NHRA Carolina Nationals

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

Qualifying:   Khalid alBalooshi was the No. 4 qualifier at the Carlyle Tools NHRA Carolina Nationals.  During the Friday evening qualifying session, alBalooshi made a 3.779-second pass at 325.53 mph.  AlBalooshi has qualified in the top-six positions at 13 of the 19 races this season.

Eliminations: AlBalooshi was first off the starting line and raced to an early lead before the tires on the gold Al-Anabi dragster lost traction allowing Doug Kalitta to race to the win.  It was alBalooshi’s first first-round loss since Denver, five races ago.  AlBalooshi’s teammate, Shawn Langdon, also went out in the first round today marking the first time since Las Vegas, 15 races ago, that both Al-Anabi cars lost in the first round at the same race.

Unofficial Point Standings: With the first-round loss, alBalooshi dropped two spots to seventh-place in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings. He trails sixth-place Clay Millican by 17 points and leads eighth-place Bob Vandergriff by 36 points with five races remaining in the NHRA Playoffs.

AlBalooshi on Charlotte: “A lot of the teams in the Countdown, including ours, lost in the first round today.  I don’t know why. Maybe the weather was tricky at the last minute.  The crew chiefs put in the tune-up, changed it, put in the tune-up and changed it again.  I don’t know exactly what happened, but I think the weather was very tricky with the sun coming out and going back in, and I think it was very hard on the crew chiefs.  The good news is five countdown teams lost in the first round today so I hope next week in Dallas, our team will have a better race.”

Next Race: The Al-Anabi Racing team will be back in action Sept. 20-22 at the AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals in Ennis, Texas, the second race of the Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs.  For additional information, please visit www.nhra.com.  For additional information on the Al-Anabi Racing Team, please visit www.alanabiracing.com.

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

Qualifying:   Shawn Langdon was the No. 3 qualifier at the Carlyle Tools NHRA Carolina Nationals.  During the Friday evening qualifying session, Langdon recorded a 3.768-second pass at 327.27 mph. Langdon has been a top-five qualifier at 14 of the 19 events this season.

Eliminations: Langdon ran an excellent 3.795-second pass, but Bob Vandergriff left the starting line first and beat Langdon to the finish line by two thousandths of a second; it was Langdon’s first first-round loss since Joliet, Ill. seven races ago.  Langdon’s teammate Khalid alBalooshi also went out in the first round today marking the first time since Las Vegas, 15 races ago, that both Al-Anabi cars lost in the first round at the same race.

Unofficial Point Standings: Langdon dropped one spot to second place in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings.  He trails new points leader Spencer Massey by 24 points and leads third-place Morgan Lucas, today’s race winner, by six points with five races remaining in the NHRA Playoffs.  Langdon had been the points leader since July 7.

Langdon on Charlotte: “The Al-Anabi car was great this weekend. We qualified well and made another excellent run in the first round, but we just got caught a little bit on the starting line and lost by two thousandths.  You need that race day luck, and it just really wasn’t on our side today.  But we still have five races to go, and with everything that happened today, we aren’t too far out of the points lead.  We’ll be ready next week in Dallas.”