Qatar Al-Anabi motivated by flashes of brilliance

The flashes of brilliance are piling up; in each of the last three NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series events, the Qatar Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel Team, the two-time, reigning NHRA Top Fuel World Champions owned by HE Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad al-Thani, has shown signs that a return to the form that powered the last two World Championships is well underway. This weekend’s race, the O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals in Joliet, Illinois, is the 11th of 23 races making up the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. Two weeks ago in Bristol, Tennessee, Qatar Al-Anabi Racing silver driver Shawn Langdon  made a phenomenal run – the quickest of the entire weekend and the track elapsed time record – during the first round of eliminations on Sunday, June 17.  That 3.76-second pass in Tennessee followed the brilliant 3.742-second pass he recorded June 1 in Englishtown, New Jersey - the fourth-quickest pass in NHRA history. And last month in Topeka, Kansas, Dubai rookie driver Khalid alBalooshi ran a 3.768-second pass in the first round of eliminations. The Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel team started the season slowly, but the team is roaring back to form. Langdon enters the O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals in seventh place in the NHRA Full Throttle Top Fuel point standings.  He trails sixth-place Doug Kalitta by 70 points and leads eighth-place Brandon Bernstein by 31 points. And there’s more good news heading into this weekend’s event near Chicago:  The Al-Anabi Racing Team is the two-time, defending Top Fuel champion of the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Route 66 Nationals with 2011 World Champion Del Worsham winning last year and 2010 World Champion Larry Dixon winning two years ago. “Going to Chicago, this team obviously knows how to run well at Route 66 Raceway,” Langdon said.  “The Al-Anabi Team won this race the last two years so that’s pretty good history.  We have night qualifying both Friday and Saturday nights which will be good because the last couple of races, that Friday night run has been pretty critical with the cooler conditions at night.  And with very hot weather expected, the night sessions will be the key to success in qualifying this weekend.” Langdon has been a solid qualifier this season; he has one No. 1 qualifier and has qualified in the top five at seven of the 10 races. His average qualifying position this season is fifth.  The Al-Anabi Racing winless streak has now grown to 10 races; the longest ever. The team endured four-race winless streaks twice in 2009 and twice in 2011, but until now, the team had never gone more than four races without a victory showing the remarkable consistency the Al-Anabi team has exhibited since it was created in 2009.  “The Al-Anabi car is definitely running better; that’s a fact,” Langdon added.  “The car is able to make stronger runs when we need them, and we’ve been making better runs on race day making good runs consistently.  That’s been a key to our continued improvement. Everyone knows how competitive Top Fuel is this year, and we are laying the foundation now for the second half of the season.” In the gold Al-Anabi car, Dubai rookie driver Khalid alBalooshi enters the O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals in 13th place in the NHRA Full Throttle Top Fuel point standings.  He trails 12th place Terry McMillen by 37 points and leads 14th-place Hillary Will by 177 points. AlBalooshi is competing for the 2012 Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award which recognizes NHRA’s Rookie of the Year. AlBalooshi was the No. 13 qualifier two weeks ago at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn.  In eliminations, Doug Kalitta defeated him in the first round. The 2011 NHRA Pro Mod champion is still looking for his first round win in Top Fuel.  “I am happy that both Al-Anabi cars are making some very good runs,” alBalooshi said.  “This tells me that our team is still getting better and better and that soon everything will be OK. Shawn’s car made very good runs at the last two races, and we all work together so I know that we are getting closer and closer to racing that will make Sheikh Khalid proud of everyone’s hard work.  I thank Sheikh Khalid for this opportunity, and I thank everyone on the Al-Anabi Team for his hard work.”