BRISTOL, Tennessee: Qatar Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel team driver Khalid alBalooshi has climbed to fifth place in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings - his career best points position in Top Fuel.
The Qatar Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel team, the two-time World Championship team owned by Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani, is the hottest Top Fuel team in NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel Drag Racing with both drivers (alBalooshi and Shawn Langdon) ranked in the top five in points.
This weekend’s 14th annual Ford NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals is the 10th of 24 races making up the United States’ 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season.
Qualifying will take place tomorrow and Saturday with eliminations set for Sunday.
After a rookie season in which he finished 11th in the final point standings, alBalooshi’s performance has steadily improved.
He opened the season with a semi-final appearance and did the same at the season’s fifth race in Houston.
Then earlier this month in Englishtown, New Jersey, alBalooshi advanced to his first final round of the season and the second of his career. Unfortunately for the Dubai driver, he then raced his team-mate Langdon who claimed a narrow victory.
With the second-place finish, alBalooshi moved up to fifth place in points, the highest ranking in his brief Top Fuel career.
“Our team had a very good race in Englishtown,” alBalooshi said.
He added: “We were very close to winning the race, but Shawn beat us in the final round. We were happy for him, but we wanted to win the race. Our Al-Anabi team is running well, and our team is doing a very good job. Everybody on our team is doing his job perfectly, and I am happy that we are No. 5 in points. That is good, but we can do better.”
He pointed out: “With every race, we get a little bit better, and my crew chief (Jason McCulloch) gets a little bit better. If we keep winning rounds, a race win will come. We just need to keep running like we are running and find our luck. And then we can win the race – as always, I thank Sheikh Khalid for giving me this opportunity.”
With his win over alBalooshi in the New Jersey final round, Langdon moved up to first in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings for the first time since the first race of the season in February.
Langdon’s New Jersey victory was his second-consecutive win, his third of the season and the fourth of his career.
He leads the Top Fuel point standings by four points.
“The last couple of races have been really good for the Al-Anabi team because we won at Topeka and Englishtown,” Langdon said. He added: “But really, both Al-Anabi cars have been running well for a while now. We’ve been winning rounds each weekend and getting to semi-finals and finals.”
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