Qatar Al-Anabi teams advance in Georgia

Qatar Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel driver Khalid al-Balooshi, far lane, leads David Grubnic in the first round of eliminations at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event near Atlanta, Georgia. The Dubai native won the round but was defeated in the second round of eliminations. Picture: Ron Lewis

By our Correspondent/Commerce, Georgia (USA)

The Qatar Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel Team, the two-time World Championship team owned by His Excellency Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad al-Thani, reached the semi-finals and quarter-finals at the rain-delayed Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals near Atlanta, the sixth of 24 races that make up America’s 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing season.

Silver Al-Anabi driver Shawn Langdon was the No 1 qualifier for the second time in the last three races. He defeated his former teammate, Morgan Lucas and Brittany Force before losing to Brandon Bernstein in the semifinals. Langdon remains third in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings. He trails second-place Antron Brown, the race winner, by 53 points and leads fourth-place Spencer Massey by 39 points. He trails points leader Tony Schumacher by 58 points.

“We had a good-running car again today,” Langdon said. “The last couple of races we’ve kind of beaten ourselves by overpowering the race track. Today, we started off with the track record elapsed time in the first round and felt pretty confident in what we were doing. We just got a little too conservative in the semi-finals; the Al-Anabi car still ran a 3.80, but that wasn’t enough. It was a good drag race; we just came out on the wrong end so we’ll head to Topeka and try again next weekend. We appreciate the confidence Sheikh Khalid has in our race team.”

After suffering mechanical issues in the second of two qualifying sessions, second-year driver Khalid al-Balooshi was the No. 12 qualifier and faced No 5 qualifier David Grubnic in the first round. No problem for the Dubai driver as al-Balooshi cruised to the first-round win light. In the second round, however, al-Balooshi lost a close drag race to Brandon Bernstein.

Despite the quarter-final loss, al-Balooshi moved from a tie for sixth place entering the weekend to sole possession of sixth place in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings. He trails fifth-place Doug Kalitta by 25 points and leads seventh-place Brandon Bernstein by six points.

“Our team started the day perfectly with a very good first round, and we were excited about the second round,” al-Balooshi said. “But Brandon ran better than us in the second round and won the race. A part broke on our car in qualifying yesterday so it was not the best weekend for our Al-Anabi team, but this is racing.”