COMMERCE, Georgia: The hard work is beginning to pay off for Khalid alBalooshi, the second-year driver for the Qatar Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel team, the two-time World Championship team owned by Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani.
The Dubai native reached the semifinals near Houston, Texas last weekend, and the team continues to improve. This weekend’s 33rd annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals near Atlanta is the seventh of 24 races making up the United States’ 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season.
Qualifying is tomorrow and Saturday with eliminations set for Sunday.
AlBalooshi’s semi-final appearance last weekend was his second of the season, and he is tied for sixth-place in the point standings.
He has now won six rounds of racing in six races this year – it took him 19 races to win that many rounds last year. In addition, AlBalooshi was the No. 2 qualifier last weekend; it was his career-best qualifying position. \
He has qualified in the top six at five of the season’s first six races, and his qualifying position is going in the right direction. He qualified fifth in Las Vegas, fourth in Charlotte and second last weekend.
“Overall, our team had a good weekend in Houston because we won some rounds,” alBalooshi said.
“Our car and our team are getting better and better, and we are doing the right direction. We go to Atlanta now. I feel good about Al-Anabi our car, and that we are getting better as a team. I appreciate the job our guys and our crew chief are doing for our car, and I thank Sheikh Khalid for being confident in me. I think in Atlanta we can win more rounds because the car is running better. It has been going down the track perfectly almost every time. A lot of the cars are going down the track, but our car is going down the track with a fast ET (elapsed time) almost every time.”
The Peninsula
