Langdon, Silver Qatar Al-Anabi find consistency in St Louis

Reigning NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel World Champion Shawn Langdon makes his Friday night qualifying attempt in Madison, Illinois, just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, Missouri.

Agencies/Madison, Illinos

Langdon made two excellent passes in the first day of qualifying for the third annual AAA Insurance NHRA Nationals just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, Missouri, the 21st of 24 races making up the United States’ NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season and the third of six races that comprise the Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs.  Qualifying resumes Saturday with eliminations set for Sunday.

In the first session, Langdon blasted down the track in 3.819 seconds at 322.11 mph and was second quickest after the first qualifying attempt.  More importantly, the run placed Langdon in the last pair of cars in the evening session when air and track conditions are most conducive to quick runs.  By the time Langdon ran, 10 teams had passed him in the qualifying order.

The Al-Anabi team made a brilliant run, a 3.780-second effort, but two other teams also recorded identical 3.780-second elapsed times and tied Langdon for third – ties are broken by speed.  Because the Al-Anabi car dropped a cylinder during the run, the car slowed to just 315 mph at the finish line so Langdon’s 3.780 at 315 mph relegated him to fifth after the first day of qualifying.  Langdon’s elapsed time was one thousandth of a second behind that of the second-place driver.

“That was a very good first day,” Langdon said.  “We made two good runs down the track, and that’s something we haven’t been able to do in the last few races. The runs today weren’t just runs down the track – they were fast runs down the track.  We made a good run in the night session - it’s just unfortunate three cars had the same elapsed time, but the Al-Anabi car is running well.  We have high hopes for the rest of the weekend.”

On the gold side of the Al-Anabi pit area, Khalid al-Balooshi had a more difficult day.  The gold Al-Anabi team did not deploy enough power in the first run and the car went into tire shake forcing alBalooshi to abort the run; he was 17th after the first qualifying attempt.  In the second session, al-Balooshi dazzled the crowd with an excellent 3.812-second pass at 319.98 mph and was second in the qualifying order.  Unfortunately, nine other teams made quicker runs later in the evening, and al-Balooshi dropped all the way to 11th after the first day.

“We didn’t have a god run in the first session, but the second run was very good with how the day started,” al-Balooshi said.  “When you miss the first round like we did, you have to be smart in the second run and make sure the car gets down the race track. You can’t take a chance on smoking the tires. We didn’t push it too hard – we made a solid run and got the car in the race.  We can improve our position now and get ready to race on Sunday.”