Shawn Langdon, Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel Dragster (silver):
Residence: Avon, Ind.
Hometown: Mira Loma, Calif.
Date of birth: Sept. 3, 1982
Crew chief: Brian Husen
Al-Anabi Racing Team Owner: His Excellency Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani
Al-Anabi Racing Team Manager: Alan Johnson
Alan Johnson Racing Owner: Alan Johnson
2012 wins/final rounds: 1/2 (.500)
Career wins/final rounds: 1/7 (.143)
2012 No. 1 qualifiers: 5
Career No. 1 qualifiers: 6
Best points finish: 4th (2012)
Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs appearances: 4 (2009, ’10, ’11, ‘12)
First start: Pomona 1, 2009
Career-best elapsed time: 3.712 seconds (Reading, 2012)
Career-best speed: 334.15 mph (Reading, 2012)
? Shawn Langdonfinished fourth in the final 2012 NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings marking the best season finish of his career. Langdon and Brandon Bernstein actually finished tied for fourth place, but Langdon won the head-to-head round wins tie breaker. The 2012 season marked the fourth in Langdon’s Top Fuel career, and the fourth consecutive season in which he finished among the top-10 Top Fuel finishers.
? During the 2012 season, the Langdon legend of starting-line excellence was clear. Langdon led the Top Fuel class in 2012 reaction time leaving the starting line quicker than any other driver with an average reaction time of .057 of a second. He left the starting line before his opponent an astounding 72% of the time, which also led the Top Fuel class last season.
? The 2012 NHRA season was the best of Langdon’s Top Fuel career to date. He finished the season in fourth place in the point standings and won the first Top Fuel race of his career. In addition, Langdon claimed five No. 1 qualifiers, more than any other Top Fuel driver, also a career best.
? Langdon owns the fastest speed to 1,000 feet and the second-quickest elapsed time in a 1,000-foot run. He recorded the fastest speed to 1,000 feet in NHRA history last fall in Reading, Pa. when he reached 334.15 mph. In addition, during the same Reading race weekend, his 3.712-second elapsed time was the national elapsed-time record until Antron Brown made a quicker pass in the same weekend. It still stands as the second-quickest 1,000-foot run in NHRA history.
? Langdon was the No. 1 qualifier five times last season, more than any other Top Fuel driver. He led the field into eliminations during events in Phoenix, Indianapolis, the September Charlotte race, Dallas and the NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif. last November. During the 2012 season, Langdon qualified in the top five at 16 of the 23 races.
? Since December, Langdon has been serving as the Al-Anabi Racing interim general manager. When Chad Head departed the race team in December to join his father’s construction business and drive the Head Racing Funny Car, Langdon stepped in to assist the team with day-to-day operations at the race shop. He will continue in this role until Head’s replacement is hired, but during race weekends, Langdon will focus solely on driving the Al-Anabi Racing silver Top Fuel dragster.
? One year ago at this event, Langdon was the No. 8 qualifier; he defeated Steve Torrence before losing to Morgan Lucas in the second round of eliminations.
? The Al-Anabi Racing Team won a total of two races in 2012 with Langdon and his teammate Khalid alBalooshi each reaching the winner’s circle once. The two-race win total was the lowest season total since the team was founded in 2009. That season, the team won eight times with five in Top Fuel and three in Funny Car; in 2010, Al-Anabi Racing visited the Top Fuel winner’s circle 12 times followed by 10 wins in 2011 when the team fielded two Top Fuel dragsters for the first time. Langdon claimed the season’s first Al-Anabi race win at the season’s 18th race.
? Langdon qualified for the Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs in each of his four previous seasons driving a Top Fuel car. He finished fourth in the final NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings last season after finishing ninth in 2011, fifth in 2010, and ninth in 2009, his rookie season.
? Langdon joined the Al-Anabi Racing team prior to the 2012 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season. He won the 2007 and ’08 NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Super Comp championships and the 1997 NHRA Junior Dragster championship in the 14-under division making him a three-time NHRA national series champion.
Langdon prior to Pomona:
“The whole Al-Anabi group is really excited to get the season started. We’ve been waiting for this since November, and a lot of the crew guys couldn’t wait to leave for Pomona. Our whole team, from the crew guys, to Sheikh Khalid to Alan to the crew chiefs, we’re all pretty fired up to get out to Pomona and the get the new season started this week. We have high expectations for both cars this season, and we all want to start off the season the right way winning Pomona and then going to Phoenix the next weekend, we have a good opportunity to get a couple of early victories for our team.
“We are looking for a little redemption this year from what we were trying to accomplish last year. I think, as a team, our two Al-Anabi cars are definitely better than 11th and fourth-place finishes. Last year was alBalooshi’s rookie year, and you could look at all of last season as kind of a learning curve for him. With his slow start, he still finished the season a lot stronger, and he should have some momentum from last year’s finish rolling into this season. For me as a driver, even though I had my best career finish and got my first Top Fuel win, I think our team has a great shot to win a lot of races and make a strong run at the championship this year. We need to prove to everybody that we are better than a fourth-place team and that we can win more than one race in a season.
“We don’t want to have any regrets this year. Last year, we had a lot of ‘shoulda, coulda, wouldas,’ and I think this year, we need to be stronger as a team. We can definitely feed off each other’s confidence. Knowing how I am as a driver, how the crew chiefs and crew guys are, everybody’s pretty confident going into this season. We did the best we could do last year but came up short. If we carry ourselves through this season with the ability and confidence we all have, I think the Al-Anabi team can turn some heads this year.”
Khalid alBalooshi, Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel Dragster (gold):
Residence: Los Angeles, Calif.
Hometown: Dubai, UAE
Date of Birth: July 27, 1979
Crew Chief: Jason McCulloch
Al-Anabi Racing Team Owner: His Excellency Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani
Al-Anabi Racing Team Manager: Alan Johnson
Alan Johnson Racing Owner: Alan Johnson
2012 wins/final rounds: 1/1 (1.000)
Career wins/final rounds: 1/1 (1.000)
2012 No. 1 Qualifiers: 0
Career No. 1 qualifiers: 0
Career-best points finish: 11th (2012)
Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs appearances: None
First professional start: Pomona1, 2012
Career-best elapsed time: 3.735 seconds (Reading 2012)
Career-best speed: 328.46 mph (Reading, 2012)
? Khalid alBalooshi enters the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing season after a successful rookie campaign. He won his first-career Top Fuel race and finished 11th in the season’s final point standings. Both accomplishments were quite significant considering the Dubai, UAE native made the very difficult switch from driving Pro Mod to driving Top Fuel yet still finished 11th in points.
? AlBalooshi captured the first Top Fuel win of his career during his rookie season last year. On a cold, rainy weekend during which national performance records were being set with impressive regularity, alBalooshi defeated Spencer Massey, Ike Maier, his teammate Shawn Langdon and eventual 2012 champion Anton Brown in the final round of the Auto Parts Nationals in Reading, Pa.
? AlBalooshi’s rookie year was a story of two very different half seasons. In the first half of the season, alBalooshi was defeated in the first round of eliminations at all 12 races. However, after getting his first Top Fuel round win at Denver in July, alBalooshi advanced to at least the second round of eliminations at10 of the last 11 races of the season including each of the last nine. He had a win and a semifinal in the last three races, and before he lost in the Las Vegas semifinals at the second-to-last race of the year, he had won six consecutive rounds of racing.
? One year ago at this event, alBalooshi was the No. 7 qualifier; he lost to Clay Millican in the first round of eliminations.
? AlBalooshi chose the No. 99 for the Al-Anabi Racing gold dragster as a tribute to Al-Anabi Racing team owner His Excellency Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani because nine is Sheikh Khalid’s favorite number.
? AlBalooshi joined the Al-Anabi Racing Team as a Pro Mod driver when it was formed in 2009 racing in both Arabian Drag Racing League and American Drag Racing League competition. He is the 2011 NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod champion. Prior to joining the Top Fuel portion of the Al-Anabi Racing Team in 2012, he had 158 career race wins in various classes of competition.
AlBalooshi prior to Pomona:
“Our goal for the new season is to do the best we can do for Sheikh Khalid and our team. I want to try to win more races this year. Winning the race at Reading last year was special; that race track will always be my favorite, and it will always be a special place for me. But we want to do more; we want to put our team in a better position and make a run for the championship. We hope that both Al-Anabi cars, my car and Shawn’s car, will be in the Countdown. Everyone needs to watch our team this year; our team will be way better than it was last year. I hope our team wins a lot of races this year.”
From: Rob Goodman
More...
Residence: Avon, Ind.
Hometown: Mira Loma, Calif.
Date of birth: Sept. 3, 1982
Crew chief: Brian Husen
Al-Anabi Racing Team Owner: His Excellency Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani
Al-Anabi Racing Team Manager: Alan Johnson
Alan Johnson Racing Owner: Alan Johnson
2012 wins/final rounds: 1/2 (.500)
Career wins/final rounds: 1/7 (.143)
2012 No. 1 qualifiers: 5
Career No. 1 qualifiers: 6
Best points finish: 4th (2012)
Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs appearances: 4 (2009, ’10, ’11, ‘12)
First start: Pomona 1, 2009
Career-best elapsed time: 3.712 seconds (Reading, 2012)
Career-best speed: 334.15 mph (Reading, 2012)
? Shawn Langdonfinished fourth in the final 2012 NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings marking the best season finish of his career. Langdon and Brandon Bernstein actually finished tied for fourth place, but Langdon won the head-to-head round wins tie breaker. The 2012 season marked the fourth in Langdon’s Top Fuel career, and the fourth consecutive season in which he finished among the top-10 Top Fuel finishers.
? During the 2012 season, the Langdon legend of starting-line excellence was clear. Langdon led the Top Fuel class in 2012 reaction time leaving the starting line quicker than any other driver with an average reaction time of .057 of a second. He left the starting line before his opponent an astounding 72% of the time, which also led the Top Fuel class last season.
? The 2012 NHRA season was the best of Langdon’s Top Fuel career to date. He finished the season in fourth place in the point standings and won the first Top Fuel race of his career. In addition, Langdon claimed five No. 1 qualifiers, more than any other Top Fuel driver, also a career best.
? Langdon owns the fastest speed to 1,000 feet and the second-quickest elapsed time in a 1,000-foot run. He recorded the fastest speed to 1,000 feet in NHRA history last fall in Reading, Pa. when he reached 334.15 mph. In addition, during the same Reading race weekend, his 3.712-second elapsed time was the national elapsed-time record until Antron Brown made a quicker pass in the same weekend. It still stands as the second-quickest 1,000-foot run in NHRA history.
? Langdon was the No. 1 qualifier five times last season, more than any other Top Fuel driver. He led the field into eliminations during events in Phoenix, Indianapolis, the September Charlotte race, Dallas and the NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif. last November. During the 2012 season, Langdon qualified in the top five at 16 of the 23 races.
? Since December, Langdon has been serving as the Al-Anabi Racing interim general manager. When Chad Head departed the race team in December to join his father’s construction business and drive the Head Racing Funny Car, Langdon stepped in to assist the team with day-to-day operations at the race shop. He will continue in this role until Head’s replacement is hired, but during race weekends, Langdon will focus solely on driving the Al-Anabi Racing silver Top Fuel dragster.
? One year ago at this event, Langdon was the No. 8 qualifier; he defeated Steve Torrence before losing to Morgan Lucas in the second round of eliminations.
? The Al-Anabi Racing Team won a total of two races in 2012 with Langdon and his teammate Khalid alBalooshi each reaching the winner’s circle once. The two-race win total was the lowest season total since the team was founded in 2009. That season, the team won eight times with five in Top Fuel and three in Funny Car; in 2010, Al-Anabi Racing visited the Top Fuel winner’s circle 12 times followed by 10 wins in 2011 when the team fielded two Top Fuel dragsters for the first time. Langdon claimed the season’s first Al-Anabi race win at the season’s 18th race.
? Langdon qualified for the Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs in each of his four previous seasons driving a Top Fuel car. He finished fourth in the final NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings last season after finishing ninth in 2011, fifth in 2010, and ninth in 2009, his rookie season.
? Langdon joined the Al-Anabi Racing team prior to the 2012 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season. He won the 2007 and ’08 NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Super Comp championships and the 1997 NHRA Junior Dragster championship in the 14-under division making him a three-time NHRA national series champion.
Langdon prior to Pomona:
“The whole Al-Anabi group is really excited to get the season started. We’ve been waiting for this since November, and a lot of the crew guys couldn’t wait to leave for Pomona. Our whole team, from the crew guys, to Sheikh Khalid to Alan to the crew chiefs, we’re all pretty fired up to get out to Pomona and the get the new season started this week. We have high expectations for both cars this season, and we all want to start off the season the right way winning Pomona and then going to Phoenix the next weekend, we have a good opportunity to get a couple of early victories for our team.
“We are looking for a little redemption this year from what we were trying to accomplish last year. I think, as a team, our two Al-Anabi cars are definitely better than 11th and fourth-place finishes. Last year was alBalooshi’s rookie year, and you could look at all of last season as kind of a learning curve for him. With his slow start, he still finished the season a lot stronger, and he should have some momentum from last year’s finish rolling into this season. For me as a driver, even though I had my best career finish and got my first Top Fuel win, I think our team has a great shot to win a lot of races and make a strong run at the championship this year. We need to prove to everybody that we are better than a fourth-place team and that we can win more than one race in a season.
“We don’t want to have any regrets this year. Last year, we had a lot of ‘shoulda, coulda, wouldas,’ and I think this year, we need to be stronger as a team. We can definitely feed off each other’s confidence. Knowing how I am as a driver, how the crew chiefs and crew guys are, everybody’s pretty confident going into this season. We did the best we could do last year but came up short. If we carry ourselves through this season with the ability and confidence we all have, I think the Al-Anabi team can turn some heads this year.”
Khalid alBalooshi, Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel Dragster (gold):
Residence: Los Angeles, Calif.
Hometown: Dubai, UAE
Date of Birth: July 27, 1979
Crew Chief: Jason McCulloch
Al-Anabi Racing Team Owner: His Excellency Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani
Al-Anabi Racing Team Manager: Alan Johnson
Alan Johnson Racing Owner: Alan Johnson
2012 wins/final rounds: 1/1 (1.000)
Career wins/final rounds: 1/1 (1.000)
2012 No. 1 Qualifiers: 0
Career No. 1 qualifiers: 0
Career-best points finish: 11th (2012)
Countdown to the Championship NHRA Playoffs appearances: None
First professional start: Pomona1, 2012
Career-best elapsed time: 3.735 seconds (Reading 2012)
Career-best speed: 328.46 mph (Reading, 2012)
? Khalid alBalooshi enters the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing season after a successful rookie campaign. He won his first-career Top Fuel race and finished 11th in the season’s final point standings. Both accomplishments were quite significant considering the Dubai, UAE native made the very difficult switch from driving Pro Mod to driving Top Fuel yet still finished 11th in points.
? AlBalooshi captured the first Top Fuel win of his career during his rookie season last year. On a cold, rainy weekend during which national performance records were being set with impressive regularity, alBalooshi defeated Spencer Massey, Ike Maier, his teammate Shawn Langdon and eventual 2012 champion Anton Brown in the final round of the Auto Parts Nationals in Reading, Pa.
? AlBalooshi’s rookie year was a story of two very different half seasons. In the first half of the season, alBalooshi was defeated in the first round of eliminations at all 12 races. However, after getting his first Top Fuel round win at Denver in July, alBalooshi advanced to at least the second round of eliminations at10 of the last 11 races of the season including each of the last nine. He had a win and a semifinal in the last three races, and before he lost in the Las Vegas semifinals at the second-to-last race of the year, he had won six consecutive rounds of racing.
? One year ago at this event, alBalooshi was the No. 7 qualifier; he lost to Clay Millican in the first round of eliminations.
? AlBalooshi chose the No. 99 for the Al-Anabi Racing gold dragster as a tribute to Al-Anabi Racing team owner His Excellency Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani because nine is Sheikh Khalid’s favorite number.
? AlBalooshi joined the Al-Anabi Racing Team as a Pro Mod driver when it was formed in 2009 racing in both Arabian Drag Racing League and American Drag Racing League competition. He is the 2011 NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod champion. Prior to joining the Top Fuel portion of the Al-Anabi Racing Team in 2012, he had 158 career race wins in various classes of competition.
AlBalooshi prior to Pomona:
“Our goal for the new season is to do the best we can do for Sheikh Khalid and our team. I want to try to win more races this year. Winning the race at Reading last year was special; that race track will always be my favorite, and it will always be a special place for me. But we want to do more; we want to put our team in a better position and make a run for the championship. We hope that both Al-Anabi cars, my car and Shawn’s car, will be in the Countdown. Everyone needs to watch our team this year; our team will be way better than it was last year. I hope our team wins a lot of races this year.”
From: Rob Goodman
More...
