Dubai native Khalid al-Balooshi leaves the starting line during last weekend’s race in Epping, New Hampshire. The gold Al-Anabi driver, sixth in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings, races on Route 66 Raceway near Chicago this weekend. PICTURE: Gary Nastase
Agencies/Joliet (Illinois)
Sometimes, a race track just suits a team’s racing set-up, and for the Qatar Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel team, the two-time World Championship team owned by His Excellency Sheikh Khalid Hamad al-Thani, one of those race tracks is Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Illinois, a facility within view of the world-famous Chicago skyline.
The 16th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals is the 12th of 24 races making up the United States’ 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season. The Qualifying is scheduled for tomorrow and Saturday with eliminations set for Sunday.
Since the team was founded in 2009, the Qatar Al-Anabi Racing Team has won two Top Fuel titles at Route 66 Raceway and advanced to two semi-finals, which is pretty impressive.
The team won at Joliet in 2010 with driver Larry Dixon and went on to win the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Top Fuel World Championship.
The next year, driver Del Worsham won at Route 66 and went on to win the team’s second consecutive Top Fuel World Championship. Dixon advanced to the semi-finals in 2009, and current driver Shawn Langdon was a semi-finalist last year.
Could Khalid al-Balooshi or Langdon win this weekend and go on to the Top Fuel World Championship as Dixon and Worsham did? Only time will tell.
“That is one of the reasons the Al-Anabi team is so good,” second-year Top Fuel driver al-Balooshi said. “Everyone on our team does his job perfectly every day. This team has won two World Championships for Sheikh Khalid, and that was his vision when he started the team."
"I am proud to race for him, and I hope that one day soon, maybe this weekend, our team will win another race,” he added.
“Sheikh Khalid designed this team to win races and championships, and that is what he and (team manager) Alan Johnson have done for these last four years,” NHRA Top Fuel points leader Langdon said.
“As a driver, knowing your team has had a lot of success at a certain race track gives you a lot of confidence. Khalid and I know that Alan, Jason (al-Balooshi crew chief Jason McCulloch) and Brian (Langdon crew chief Brian Husen) all know how to tune a car to go down the track in Joliet.
"So if we do our job by leaving the starting line on time and keeping the car straight down the race track, we have an excellent chance of winning the race. That’s a good feeling,” Langdon added.
Al-Balooshi enters this weekend’s event in sixth place in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings while Langdon took the points lead this past Sunday.
Both teams have been running very well, and no one should be surprised to see one of the Al-Anabi cars in the winner’s circle on Sunday afternoon.
Al-Anabi Racing operates out of multiple locations in both the United States and Qatar.
In the United States, the Brownsburg, Ind-based operation is a two-car NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series team that is managed by Alan Johnson Racing.
Sheikh Khalid’s initiative has created increased international awareness of the nation of Qatar while highlighting the nation’s international sports outreach.
Alan Johnson is a 14-time NHRA champion in various capacities including crew chief, team owner and team manager.