Dubai driver Khalid alBalooshi celebrates his victory at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio on Sunday. It was AlBalooshi’s first win of the year and the second Top Fuel win of his career. PICTURE BY: GARY NASTASE
NORWALK, Ohio: Second-year Top Fuel driver Khalid alBalooshi won the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals yesterday for the Qatar Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel Team.
The two-time World Championship team is owned by Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani and the race was the 13th of 24 meets that make up America’s 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing season.
The win is the team’s fourth in 13 races so far this season.
AlBalooshi was simply brilliant behind the wheel of the 8,000-horsepower gold Al-Anabi dragster.
He beat 2012 World Champion Antron Brown in the opening round and went on to beat Chris Karamesines and Clay Millican to advance to his second final round of the season where he would face No. 1 qualifier Doug Kalitta.
Both drivers left the starting line together.
The tyres on Kalitta’s car lost traction with the race track, and alBalooshi sped to a big lead before the tires on the Al-Anabi car lost traction.
AlBalooshi lifted off the throttle and got back into it but the car went sideways.
He lifted off the throttle again and got back into it just in time to beat the quickly-closing Kalitta car in the opposite lane and claim his first win of the season and the second of his career.
“I felt our car was going to do something special this weekend,” alBalooshi said.
He added: “Our crew has been doing a very good job, and this is a very good win for our Al-Anabi team. I am happy to win for Sheik Khalid, everybody on the Al-Anabi team, everybody in Qatar and everybody who helps us with our car.”
AlBalooshi pointed out: “After we lost here a year ago (12th first-round loss in a row), we were really down – all the luck seemed to be against us, but after we got that first round win the next race (Denver, 2012) everything changed. Things just seemed to come together for us. My crew chief, Jason McCulloch, has done a great job. We had a good car today, and the luck seemed to be with us.”
The Al-Anabi team played host to a young guest this weekend in nine-year-old Jacob Delling a big drag racing fan from Clio, Michigan who has lost sight in both eyes.
The Al-Anabi Pro-Mod team befriended Delling at a race in Michigan last week and then went on to victory there.
Delling attended the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk this weekend and had a chance to climb into alBalooshi’s car earlier in the weekend.
After alBalooshi won the race, Delling attended the Winner’s Circle celebration where he held and waved the trophy alBalooshi received for winning the race. “Once I saw Jacob in the car, I knew I had to try to do something special this weekend,” alBalooshi added.
With the win, alBalooshi remains sixth in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings, but he is just 28 points out of fifth place and just 36 points out of fourth place.
AlBalooshi’s win is the third in the last four years for the Al-Anabi Racing Team at Summit Motorsports Park.
Also, alBalooshi claimed the final automatic spot in the Traxxas Nitro Shootout set for September in Indianapolis.
Meanwhile, Shawn Langdon was the No. 5 qualifier and he set the track record for elapsed time with his 3.752-second pass in the first round that defeated JR Todd.
He went on to beat Bob Vandergriff before losing to Doug Kalitta in the semi-finals. With his semi-final appearance, Langdon moves back to first place in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings with a one-point lead over Tony Schumacher.
It is the sixth time in as many races that an event has ended with either Langdon or Schumacher in the points lead.
“Today was definitely a great day for the Al-Anabi team with Khalid getting the win,” Langdon said.
He added: “It’s always good to get a win for team Al-Anabi, for Sheikh Khalid and everybody in Qatar. Our silver Al-Anabi car was a good-running car all weekend; it was great to get that track record in the first round on Sunday (yesterday).”
He explained: In the semifinals, we just came out on the wrong end of a great drag race with Doug Kalitta. We got the points lead back from Tony (Schumacher), Khalid won the race so we have both cars in the Traxxas Shootout and Khalid is moving up in points so overall, it was just a great weekend for the team.” THE PENINSULA
