Qatar Al-Anabi’s Langdon celebrates after winning the NHRA Kansas Nationals in Kansas on Sunday.
By Our Correspondent/Topeka, Kansas
The Qatar Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel Team, the two-time World Championship team owned by HE Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad al-Thani, and driver Shawn Langdon won Sunday’s 25th annual NHRA Kansas Nationals, the eighth of 24 races that make up America’s 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing season.
After having what appeared to be the car to beat at each of the last three events yet failing to win the races, Langdon and the silver Al-Anabi team would not be denied this time. His Excellency’s Top Fuel dragster was brilliance in motion on Sunday in America’s heartland dispatching each of the day’s opponents with precision execution.
Langdon was the No 1 qualifier on the strength of a dazzling run Saturday afternoon; it was Langdon’s second-straight No 1 qualifier, his third of the season and the ninth of his career. On race day, he defeated No 16 seed Pat Dakin in the first round and Steve Torrence in the second. In the semi-finals, Langdon faced Spencer Massey, a driver he had never beaten. He has now. Langdon dispatched Massey and headed to a final-round showdown with seven-time NHRA World Champion Tony Schumacher, the driver he defeated in each of his previous two race wins.
This time would be no different as Langdon used the superior Al-Anabi power plant to motor past Schumacher and claim the third win of his young career. With the win, Langdon moved up one position to second place in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings; he now trails Schumacher, the points leader, by just 34 points.
“The Al-Anabi crew guys just did a phenomenal job this weekend,” Langdon said. “We’ve been close to winning for the last few races; the car has been running well, but we just had not been able to finish it out on Sunday. The Al-Anabi crew had the fire in their eyes today. We didn’t want to go four races in a row feeling we had the car to win and not getting it done.
“Sheikh Khalid (team owner His Excellency Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad al-Thani) and Alan Johnson (team manager) put together a phenomenal team, and I’m just happy to be a part of it. They don’t settle for second place; they always want to be the best, they always want to be No. 1 and have the fastest car. I love racing for Sheikh Khalid. I love racing for Alan Johnson. Brian Husen, my crew chief, we have great team chemistry. This team did a great job before I got there, and they’re doing a great job now. I’m just lucky to be the one driving the car. We were proud to win Sunday’s race for Sheikh Khalid and the people of Qatar.”
On the gold side of the Al-Anabi pit, second-year driver Khalid al-Balooshi also had a good weekend. He was the No 4 qualifier on the strength of four excellent qualifying attempts.