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Clear, cool weather conditions generally mean quick runs and very fast speeds for Top Fuel dragsters, but the Qatar Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel team, the three-time and defending NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel World Champions owned by His Excellency, Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad al-Thani, has not yet found the combination to take advantage of the nearly perfect racing conditions. |
Al-Balooshi is ninth while Shawn Langdon is 15th after the first day of qualifying for the second annual Auto-Plus NHRA New England Nationals, the 11th of 24 events that make up the United States’ 2014 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season.
Situated some 60 miles north of Boston, New England Dragway draws tremendous crowds of race fans that pack the grandstands to watch the 8,000 horsepower Top Fuel dragsters reach speeds in excess of 320 mph. Al-Balooshi was on a brilliant pass in the first qualifying round Friday afternoon, but the car was a touch too aggressive and smoked the tires in the middle of the run.
In the evening session, the gold Al-Anabi car made a smooth, solid run at 3.819-seconds at nearly 321 mph much to the delight of the New England race fans.
“So far so good for the Al-Anabi team this weekend,” al-Balooshi said. “We are not where we want to be yet, but we have two more runs to get better. The weather is cool so I know Jason (crew chief Jason McCulloch) and everyone else on our team will work their hardest to have us ready to race on Sunday. I am sure we can improve our qualifying position.”
On the silver side of the Al-Anabi pit area, reigning NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel World Champion Shawn Langdon is currently 15th in the qualifying order. In the first round, Langdon’s silver Al-Anabi car launched perfectly and appeared headed to an excellent result before a mechanical failure forced Langdon to abort the run.
In the Friday-evening round, the silver Al-Anabi team put an aggressive tune-up in the car to take advantage of the cool air and go for the No 1 qualifier. Unfortunately, the tune-up was too aggressive, and the Al-Anabi car smoked the tires. Like his teammate, Langdon has two more chances to improve his qualifying position.
“We were going for it, but it didn’t work out,” Langdon said. “The conditions were right to run some great numbers, and we wanted to get the No 1 qualifier for Sheikh Khalid and everyone on the Al-Anabi team. We just got a little bit too aggressive and smoked the tires, but we’ll do our best to improve our position and be ready to go on race day.”
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 State of Qatar while highlighting the nation’s international sports outreach. Alan Johnson is a 15-time NHRA champion in various capacities including crew chief, team owner and team manager.