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Khalid al-Balooshi is seventh, and Shawn Langdon is 10th after two rounds of qualifying for 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, at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals north of San Francisco. |
Al-Balooshi started the weekend with a solid run in the unseasonably warm California afternoon. His 3.900-second run placed him sixth in the order, but more importantly, put him in the later portion of the evening qualifying order when conditions are best for quick runs.
Al-Balooshi’s gold Al-Anabi Team capitalised on their opportunity running a 3.828-second pass at nearly 316 mph moving al-Balooshi up to fourth.
Three cars made better runs later, though, and al-Balooshi finished the first day of qualifying in seventh place.
“Our Al-Anabi team made two solid runs today,” al-Balooshi said. “The weather was very hot – the track was tricky, but Jason (crew chief Jason McCulloch) and our team did a good job making two strong runs. We would like to be a little higher in the order, but now we can work to make our car the best it can be for race day on Sunday. I thank everyone on our team for his hard work.”
Like his teammate, Langdon also made a good start with a 3.890-second pass at more than 313 mph; he was fourth after the first session and placed in one of the later pairs in the evening qualifying session.
Langdon’s silver Al-Anabi car launched brilliantly and seemed headed for a dazzling run. However, as has been the case many times this season, the silver Al-Anabi Team was a touch too aggressive and overpowered the race track. When the car smoked the tires, Langdon’s bid for the No 1 qualifier was dashed, and finished in 10th place.
“The Al-Anabi team made a great run in the first round, and we were in good position to go for the No. 1 qualifier in the night session,” Langdon said.
“We were on a great run when we smoked the tires. We were going for the No 1 qualifier and just overpowered the race track a little bit. We had to go for it, but we’ll be fine 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.