KENT, Washington: The Qatar Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel Team, the two-time World Championship team owned by Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani, qualified at the top of the field for the just completed O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Northwest Nationals.
When persistent rain showers forced cancellation in two qualifying sessions, teams were left with only two chances to make the Seattle show, and the Qatar Al-Anabi team was up to the challenge.
Silver driver Shawn Langdon was the No. 1 qualifier in Seattle and he set the track record with his dazzling 3.765-second pass during first of two qualifying rounds.
In eliminations, he defeated Troy Buff and Steve Torrence before losing to race winner Morgan Lucas in the semi-finals .
With his semi-final appearance, Langdon increased his lead in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings. He now leads second-place Tony Schumacher by 147 points.
Langdon said: “The Al-Anabi car was excellent this weekend. We made some really good strong runs and set the track elapsed time record in qualifying.”
He added: “The car was just as good today, but the track was hotter, and in the semi-finals, we were trying to make another good run and just got a little too aggressive so we smoked the tires. We increased our points lead so it was still a very good weekend for the Qatar Al-Anabi Racing Team.”
Second-year Top Fuel driver Khalid alBalooshi was also brilliant in qualifying making two excellent runs and streaking to the No. 4 qualifying position.
In the elimination rounds, he made an excellent run and defeated Brittany Force, but in the second round, a spark plug broke causing the engine in the gold Al-Anabi car to drop a cylinder which allowed race winner Morgan Lucas to sneak around alBalooshi and take the round win by .073 seconds.
With the quarter-final finish, alBalooshi remains sixth in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings. He trails fifth-place Doug Kalitta by 36 points.
Al Balooshi said: “Our Al-Anabi car was very good until the second round today.”
The driver, who is from Dubai, added: “We made good qualifying runs, and the first round was also very good. In the second round, a spark plug broke, and we dropped a cylinder. Morgan won the race, but it is OK.”
THE PENINSULA
