LAS VEGAS: It was a brilliant day of qualifying for the Qatar Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel team, the two-time NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel World Champions owned by Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani.
The teams are third and fourth at the mid-point of qualifying for tomorrow’s Summitracing.com NHRA Nationals on The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Qualifying resumes today with eliminations set for tomorrow.
Silver Al-Anabi driver Shawn Langdon was third after the first round of qualifying, but he was dazzling in the evening session running a 3.812-second pass at 290.32 mph.
Langdon was on a run that could easily have put him atop the qualifying order before a minor part malfunction stopped the car’s acceleration at the end of the run. Despite the part failure, he is third after two qualifying rounds.
“The Al-Anabi car made two excellent runs today,” Langdon said. “We were third quickest in the first session, and in the evening session, it was even better. The car lifted the front tires off the track and carried them a long way so I knew it was on a great run. Right before the finish line, the blower belt broke, and the car stopped accelerating; it was still a really good run. Sheikh Khalid built this team to win races and championships, and our Al-Anabi team is poised for an excellent weekend.”
Dubai driver Khalid alBalooshi had a dazzling day as well with a similarly strong showing. After making a solid pass in the afternoon session, alBalooshi saved his best for the evening’s cool desert air blasting down The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 3.824 seconds at 319.14 mph. The run put the second-year Top Fuel driver in fourth place after yesterday’s qualifying rounds.”
“I am very proud of our Al-Anabi team today,” alBalooshi said.
“Everyone on our team is working his hardest. It is good when hard work turns into good results, and that is what happened today. Now we can work on getting our car even better for race day. Everyone should watch our team because we are going to keep getting better and better. I thank Sheikh Khalid for this opportunity, and I hope we can win the race for him this weekend.” THE PENINSULA
