Qatar Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel driver Shawn Langdon begins a qualifying run two weeks ago in Las Vegas in this file photo. Langdon is in a strong position to clinch the team’s third NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel World Championship this weekend in Pomona, California. PICTURE BY: RON LEWIS
POMONA, California: Shawn Langdon and the Qatar Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel Team, the two-time World Championship team owned by Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani, are poised to clinch the team’s third NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel World Championship in the last four years at this weekend’s 49th annual Auto Club NHRA Finals.
Qualifying is set for tomorrow, Friday and Saturday with eliminations scheduled for Sunday.
Langdon enters the final race of the season with a 102-point lead over the second-place driver, 2012 NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel World Champion Antron Brown.
Depending on qualifying results and bonus-point acquisition, it is possible that Langdon could clinch his first-career NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel World Championship at the conclusion of qualifying on Saturday.
If not, should he win his first-round matchup on Sunday, he will clinch the World Championship no matter what anybody else does.
Langdon said: “It would mean everything to me to be able to end the year at Pomona with a Mello Yello World Championship because that’s where I grew up, racing junior dragsters, being a big fan of the sport and watching my idols race there,”
He added: “Pomona is a special place. All the excitement that goes into Pomona definitely makes it one of the most exciting races of the year, and clinching the third world championship for Sheikh Khalid, Qatar and our race team would mean a lot to me.”
Should Langdon win the World Championship this year, it would be the Qatar Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel Team’s third NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel World Championship in the last four years.
Larry Dixon won the title for Al-Anabi in 2010, and Del Worsham won in 2011.
In addition, Dixon finished in second place just two points out of the World Title in 2009, the team’s inaugural season.
Langdon said: “I think the biggest thing is to surround yourself with great people, and I think I’ve been able to do that over here with the Qatar Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel Team. We have a great team. Everybody is focused. Everybody is dedicated to this team.”
He added: “Everybody is here because they want to win championships, and Sheikh Khalid built this team to win races and championships. Surrounding yourself with great people, having that confidence, having that belief in yourself and in your team that you can accomplish great things can carry you a long way,”
And hopefully it will carry Sheikh Khalid, Qatar, Langdon and the rest of the team to another World Championship.
THE PENINSULA
