Qatar Al Anabi finish strongly in qualifying

Dubai native Khalid al-Balooshi eyes an excellent qualifying position prior to his first run at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals near Atlanta, Georgia.  PICTURE: Ron Lewis

Agencies/Atlanta, Georgia

Al-Balooshi, who was only able to make one qualifying attempt, is eighth while his teammate, 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel World Champion Shawn Langdon, is 13th at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals near Atlanta, Georgia, the seventh of 24 events that make up the United States’ 2014 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season.

Dubai native alBalooshi opened qualifying with a very solid 3.836-second run at nearly 320 mph and was sixth after the first session.

Poised to make a run at his first-career No 1 qualifier as a Top Fuel driver, al-Balooshi was excited to make his second run. Multiple delays, including two for brief rain showers, pushed the second qualifying attempt late into the night with temperatures rapidly falling.

In addition, 2012 World Champion Antron Brown suffered a scary crash but thankfully walked away from his mangled race car.  However, the ensuing cleanup pushed the event into air temperatures that were no longer safe for racing, so the National Hot Rod Association cancelled the rest of the evening session.

Al-Balooshi was not able to make his second qualifying attempt; his afternoon run remained good enough for the eighth position as two drivers made evening runs quicker than al-Balooshi’s before the remainder of the session was cancelled.

He will have two chances to improve his starting place for race day today. “We started the day with a good first run Friday afternoon, and I think we were going to make a very fast run tonight,” al-Balooshi said. 

“Jason (crew chief) said he was going to push the car, and I was really excited to make this run. We did not get to make that run because of all the delays. There’s nothing we can do about it, but I know our team will be ready to make that strong run tomorrow; Jason and everyone else on our team will be ready to race on Sunday.”

Langdon was able to make two qualifying attempts but had trouble on both of his Friday runs.  In the afternoon session, the silver Al Anabi car had problems early in the run forcing the reigning world champion to abort the run.

In the drastically-delayed evening session, the Al Anabi team looked to capitalise on the perfect conditions with a No 1 qualifier run. The car launched brilliantly with 8,000 horsepower lifting the front tires off the track, and Langdon appeared headed for a dazzling result. 

The tune-up was a fraction too strong with the air a touch too cold, and the Al Anabi car smoked the tires again. Langdon is 13th with two qualifying attempts remaining.“This Al Anabi team has made great strides in the last couple of races, but we still have some things that we are tweaking in our tune-up,” Langdon said.

“The Friday-night runs have been a little challenging for us this season, but we know we are on the right track and that the Al Anabi team is close to doing something incredible for Sheikh Khalid and the State of Qatar.  We are getting closer and closer.  We’ll be there soon.”