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
2013 wins/final rounds: 1/1 (1.000)
Career wins/final rounds: 2/8 (.250)
2013 No. 1 qualifiers: 0
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 Langdonenters the Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals in second place in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings. He trails first-place Tony Schumacher by 79 points and leads third-place Antron Brown by one point.
? Two races into the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing season, Langdon has a win and a first-round loss. After winning the season-opening race in Pomona, Calif. last month, Langdon lost a tire-smoking battle with Leah Pruett in the first round at Phoenix. After both cars lost traction early in the run, Pruett’s car hooked up to the race track first, and she won the round.
? What a difference a year makes. One year ago, the Al-Anabi Racing Team entered the third race of the season in Gainesville, Fla. with Langdon in fifth place and his teammate Khalid alBalooshi in 11th place in the Top Fuel point standings. This season, Langdon enters the Gatornationals in second place with alBalooshi currently fourth.
? With last Langdon’s win in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Winternationals in Pomona, Calif., he has qualified for the Traxxas Shootout. The second-year special event for eight Top Fuel teams and eight Funny Car teams is set for Indianapolis during the U.S. Nationals on Labor Day weekend. Last year, Langdon did not qualify for the event because he did not win a race prior to it nor did he advance into the race from the drawing for non-winners.
? One year ago at Gainesville, Langdon was the No. 3 qualifier; he defeated T.J. Zizzo and Bob Vandergriff before losing to Tony Schumacher in the semifinals.
? Langdon 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. Langdon’s run still stands as the second-quickest 1,000-foot run in NHRA history.
? 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 Top Fuel 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.
? 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.
? 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 last 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 Gainesville:
“I feel really good with what the Al-Anabi team has accomplished so far this year, and I am feeling very confident in the car. We had a really good race day setup in Pomona, but when we went to Phoenix, the track was a little bit tricky. We were trying to be aggressive early, and the Phoenix track didn’t like it. We figured some things out after that weekend and have tweaked our tune-up. We still have a little bit of homework to do, but with the way the Al-Anabi car ran on race day in Pomona, we know we have a really good race car. We just have to manage it and make it consistent.
“Going into Gainesville this weekend, we’re definitely excited to race on the East Coast for the first time this season. The races at Gainesville always draw huge crowds, and it’s usually a very fast race track. The conditions look pretty good for this weekend, and we feel confident about the race. We had a really good pre-season test in South Florida in January, and we could have some similar conditions this weekend in Gainesville so we should be able to use some of the information we got in testing and apply it to the Gainesville race track; we feel confident about our car, the way it’s running and what we have been trying to accomplish.
“I like Gainesville because, as intense as the competition level in Top Fuel is these days, especially this year with two really fast fields at our first two races, as long as it doesn’t get too hot and muggy, Gainesville can be a very fast race track. With all these fast cars in Top Fuel, it could come down to who can leave the starting line quickest on Sunday.”
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 Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals in fourth place in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings. He trails third-place Antron Brown by 17 points and leads fifth-place Morgan Lucas by seven points.
? AlBalooshi’s sophomore season is off to a much better start than his rookie season in 2012. He advanced to the semifinals in Pomona and the quarterfinals in Phoenix giving him three round wins on the young season. Last year, alBalooshi did not win his third round until the 16th race of the season. AlBalooshi was the No. 6 qualifier at both Pomona and Phoenix, and the Dubai, UAE native has won at least one round of competition at each of the last 11 races.
? 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.5 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 Gainesville:
“I am happy with the way our season has started, but we need to do better. I know that everybody on our Al-Anabi race team is working his hardest. We qualified sixth at both races so far, but I know we can do better. Getting to the semifinals in Pomona was a good start, but then we lost in the second round at Phoenix. We need to be consistent, and I am sure that is what Jason (crew chief Jason McCulloch) and everybody on our team is trying to do. I am excited to race in Gainesville this weekend, and I hope we can have a very good race.”
From: Rob Goodman
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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
2013 wins/final rounds: 1/1 (1.000)
Career wins/final rounds: 2/8 (.250)
2013 No. 1 qualifiers: 0
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 Langdonenters the Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals in second place in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings. He trails first-place Tony Schumacher by 79 points and leads third-place Antron Brown by one point.
? Two races into the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing season, Langdon has a win and a first-round loss. After winning the season-opening race in Pomona, Calif. last month, Langdon lost a tire-smoking battle with Leah Pruett in the first round at Phoenix. After both cars lost traction early in the run, Pruett’s car hooked up to the race track first, and she won the round.
? What a difference a year makes. One year ago, the Al-Anabi Racing Team entered the third race of the season in Gainesville, Fla. with Langdon in fifth place and his teammate Khalid alBalooshi in 11th place in the Top Fuel point standings. This season, Langdon enters the Gatornationals in second place with alBalooshi currently fourth.
? With last Langdon’s win in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Winternationals in Pomona, Calif., he has qualified for the Traxxas Shootout. The second-year special event for eight Top Fuel teams and eight Funny Car teams is set for Indianapolis during the U.S. Nationals on Labor Day weekend. Last year, Langdon did not qualify for the event because he did not win a race prior to it nor did he advance into the race from the drawing for non-winners.
? One year ago at Gainesville, Langdon was the No. 3 qualifier; he defeated T.J. Zizzo and Bob Vandergriff before losing to Tony Schumacher in the semifinals.
? Langdon 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. Langdon’s run still stands as the second-quickest 1,000-foot run in NHRA history.
? 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 Top Fuel 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.
? 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.
? 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 last 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 Gainesville:
“I feel really good with what the Al-Anabi team has accomplished so far this year, and I am feeling very confident in the car. We had a really good race day setup in Pomona, but when we went to Phoenix, the track was a little bit tricky. We were trying to be aggressive early, and the Phoenix track didn’t like it. We figured some things out after that weekend and have tweaked our tune-up. We still have a little bit of homework to do, but with the way the Al-Anabi car ran on race day in Pomona, we know we have a really good race car. We just have to manage it and make it consistent.
“Going into Gainesville this weekend, we’re definitely excited to race on the East Coast for the first time this season. The races at Gainesville always draw huge crowds, and it’s usually a very fast race track. The conditions look pretty good for this weekend, and we feel confident about the race. We had a really good pre-season test in South Florida in January, and we could have some similar conditions this weekend in Gainesville so we should be able to use some of the information we got in testing and apply it to the Gainesville race track; we feel confident about our car, the way it’s running and what we have been trying to accomplish.
“I like Gainesville because, as intense as the competition level in Top Fuel is these days, especially this year with two really fast fields at our first two races, as long as it doesn’t get too hot and muggy, Gainesville can be a very fast race track. With all these fast cars in Top Fuel, it could come down to who can leave the starting line quickest on Sunday.”
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 Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals in fourth place in the NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings. He trails third-place Antron Brown by 17 points and leads fifth-place Morgan Lucas by seven points.
? AlBalooshi’s sophomore season is off to a much better start than his rookie season in 2012. He advanced to the semifinals in Pomona and the quarterfinals in Phoenix giving him three round wins on the young season. Last year, alBalooshi did not win his third round until the 16th race of the season. AlBalooshi was the No. 6 qualifier at both Pomona and Phoenix, and the Dubai, UAE native has won at least one round of competition at each of the last 11 races.
? 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.5 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 Gainesville:
“I am happy with the way our season has started, but we need to do better. I know that everybody on our Al-Anabi race team is working his hardest. We qualified sixth at both races so far, but I know we can do better. Getting to the semifinals in Pomona was a good start, but then we lost in the second round at Phoenix. We need to be consistent, and I am sure that is what Jason (crew chief Jason McCulloch) and everybody on our team is trying to do. I am excited to race in Gainesville this weekend, and I hope we can have a very good race.”
From: Rob Goodman
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