Qatar Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel driver Khalid al-Balooshi races to his quarter-final victory over Leah Pritchett in Houston last month.
Agencies/Commerce, Georgia
Dubai native Khalid al-Balooshi is feeling pretty good about things these days. After reaching the final round of eliminations for the second time this season, it’s quite clear that the former Pro Mod champion continues his impressive evolution into a Top Fuel driver. Al-Balooshi and his teammate, 2013 World Champion Shawn Langdon, roll into this week’s event near Atlanta, Georgia looking for another solid outing for the Qatar Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel team, the three-time and defending World Championship team owned by HE Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad al-Thani.
The two Al-Anabi drivers enter this weekend’s 34th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals, the seventh of 24 races making up the United States’ 2014 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, in search of more success and perhaps another race win. Qualifying is set for Friday and Saturday with eliminations scheduled for Sunday.
Al-Balooshi, who won February’s season-opening race in California, advanced to his second final round of the season last month in Houston; he is off to the best start of his three-year Top Fuel career. In the first six races of the season, al-Balooshi has a win, a runner-up finish and nine round wins; he is fifth in points. Last year at this time, he had two semi-final appearances, six round wins and was tied for sixth in points. Six races into his 2012 rookie season, he had no round wins and was 13th in points. The first Middle Eastern driver to compete in a major US Motorsports series has made tremendous progress since his rookie season.
“I feel very good about what our team has been doing this year,” al-Balooshi said. “We won the first race but then we had some problems with the tune-up. The last two races have been very good for both Al-Anabi cars. Shawn (Langdon) went to a final round; we went to a final round with the gold Al-Anabi team. I made a mistake in the race with Antron (2012 World Champion Antron Brown in the Houston final round); I got the car out of the groove. I am sorry that happened, and I will do my best not to do that again. I think we are getting back to the way we ran in the first race.
“I know everybody on our team is working his hardest; I thank everyone for his hard work. I know my crew chief (Jason McCulloch) is trying his best to make our car one of the best in the show. When the season started, I said I thought we had a good hot rod. I still think that. Our hot rod is very good. Our team is very good. I think we can win another race for Sheikh Khalid soon.”
Langdon, the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel World Champion, has made huge strides in the last two races with a final round appearance in Charlotte and a semifinal run in Houston one race ago. The team has qualified in the top-four positions at five of the six races this year, and now, the race-day performance is starting to come around as well. His fourth-place points position is his highest of the season - the team’s hard work in crafting its tune-up is now starting to pay dividends.
“It’s looking like we may have turned the corner in our season,” Langdon said. “The Al-Anabi car is definitely responding better to what we’ve been doing, and we appreciate Sheikh Khalid’s patience while we’ve worked on things. Now it’s just trying to keep progressing and keep that Sunday tune-up going the right direction. We’ve qualified well all season; we’ve just had some inconsistencies on Sunday, but I think we’ve turned the corner now. The car’s definitely running better, and we’re pushing to try to get that first win of the season. Just like any other year, once you get that first win out of the way, we’re hoping more will follow shortly after.”