SONOMA, California: Qatar Al Anabi Racing Top Fuel team drivers Khalid AlBalooshi and Shawn Langdon were in seventh and 10th place respectively after two rounds of qualifying at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals held here on Friday.
Qualifying continued through yesterday and eliminations are set for today.
AlBalooshi started the weekend with a solid run in the unusually warm California afternoon. His 3.9second run placed him sixth in the order and, more importantly, put him in the later portion of the evening qualifying order when conditions were best for quick runs. AlBalooshi’s gold A-Anabi car capitalised on this opportunity, running a 3.828second pass at nearly 316m/hr, moving him up to fourth. Three cars made better runs later, though, and AlBalooshi finished the first day of qualifying in seventh place.
“Our Al Anabi team made two solid runs today,” AlBalooshi 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 their hard work.”
Like his teammate, Langdon also made a good start with a 3.89second pass at more than 313 m/hr. 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 pushed the car too far. When the car smoked the tires, Langdon’s bid for the No. 1 qualifier was dashed and he finished in 10th place.
“The Al-Anabi team made a great run in the first round and we were in a 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.”
The Qatar Al Anabi Racing Top Fuel team is the current and three-time NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel World Champions. It is owned by H E Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani. It operates out of multiple locations in the US and Qatar.
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