Team Al-Anabi Vegas Report
Shawn Langdon – Al- Anabi Racing Top Fuel Dragster (silver)
Qualifying: Shawn Langdon was the No. 10 qualifier at the Toyota NHRA Nationals. During the second round of qualifying, Langdon reached the finish line in 3.787 seconds at 301.81 mph.
Eliminations: Langdon defeated Steve Torrence before losing to Spencer Massey in the second round of eliminations. Prior to Langdon’s first-round win, points leader Tony Schumacher and second-place Doug Kalitta both lost their first-round races, and when Langdon defeated third-place Torrence, he had a chance to move to second place in points and within 74 of the points lead if he had won the Toyota NHRA Nationals. Massey’s win over Langdon made that scenario impossible.
Unofficial Point Standings: Langdon remains fourth in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings. He trails third-place J.R. Todd by 22 points and leads fifth-place Doug Kalitta by one point. The second through sixth place positions in the point standings are separated by 26 points.
Langdon on Las Vegas: “We had a chance; it was a great feeling to know that with Tony (Schumacher) and Doug (Kalitta) going out in the first round, we had a chance to make up a lot of ground in the point standings, but we couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity. We’ve had one of those years. It’s been tough fighting through the tune-up bugs this season, but we continue to just try to get our car running well again.”
Khalid alBalooshi – Al- Anabi Racing Top Fuel Dragster (gold)
Qualifying: Khalid alBalooshi was the No. 9 qualifier at the Toyota NHRA Nationals. During the final round of qualifying on Saturday, alBalooshi made his best run of the four qualifying sessions – a 3.781-second pass at 320.36 mph.
Eliminations: AlBalooshi defeated Larry Dixon before losing to J.R. Todd in the second round of eliminations. AlBalooshi’s 3.781-second pass in the second-round loss was the third-quickest run of the second round, but unfortunately for the Dubai native, Todd’s 3.777 was good enough to get the second-round win.
Unofficial Point Standings: AlBalooshi remains eighth in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings. He trails seventh-place Antron Brown by 32 points and leads ninth-place Brittany Force by 53 points with one race remaining in the season.
AlBalooshi on Las Vegas: “We have been taking it step by step by step, and our Al-Anabi team is doing a good job. We made two very good runs today, but I think, in the second round, we just raced the wrong car at the wrong time. If you run 3.78, most times you will win the race, but we just met the wrong car at the wrong time. This is drag racing. If we had run somebody else, we would have had a good chance to win, but it is what it is.”
