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Shawn Langdon is the qualifying leader after two rounds of qualifying and has increased his points lead for the Qatar Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel team, the two-time NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel World Champions owned by HE Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad al-Thani. Langdon is first, and Khalid al-Balooshi is ninth at the Auto Club NHRA Finals, the last of six races that comprise the Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs and the 24th of 24 events making up the United States’ 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season. |
Langdon continues to slowly increase his command of the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings. In Thursday’s first qualifying round, Langdon was No. 1 with a 3.772-second pass at more than 322 mph. Antron Brown, the only other driver with a mathematical chance to win the World Championship, was second.
Langdon earned three qualifying bonus points; Brown earned two. Thus, Langdon increased his lead in the point standings to 103.
The exact same scenario played out on Friday with Langdon’s 3.750-second effort leading the class while earning three bonus points and Brown coming in second earning two; Langdon’s lead is now 104 points.
Should Langdon complete the qualifying process leading the point standings by at least 101 points, he will clinch the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel World Championship. Langdon has posted the quickest time in nine of the last 14 qualifying sessions earning three bonus points each time.
“The whole Al-Anabi team has done such a phenomenal job,” Langdon said.
“You see the hard work and determination that goes into everything the team does throughout the season, but there’s something different when the Countdown begins. Everybody digs that much deeper, works that much harder and stays that much later just to make sure everything is absolutely perfect.”
“The Al-Anabi guys have done such a good job preparing the car; even after that 3.750 run, everything looked great on the car. We are excited that we are getting closer to clinching the Mello Yello World Championship; we have a job to do, and that is to clinch that World Championship for Sheikh Khalid, and hopefully, we can get that done on Saturday.”
Second-year driver Khalid alBalooshi is ninth at the middle of the qualifying process; after having problems on Thursday, al-Balooshi blasted down the drag strip Friday afternoon with a brilliant 3.806-second pass at more than 323 mph. He has two chances to improve his position yesterday.
“Our team made a very good run today,” al-Balooshi said. “Everybody on our team worked very hard today, and I thank them for their hard work. We have two chances to make better runs tomorrow, and I am sure our team will do its best to run better. I thank Sheikh Khalid for the opportunity to drive this Top Fuel car.”