The Al-Anabi Racing Team and His Highness Sheik Khalid Al Thani
NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series
The 41st Annual Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals
Gainesville Raceway, Gainesville, Fla.
Pre-event Notes and Quotes
Larry Dixon, Top Fuel Dragster
Residence: Avon, Ind.
Hometown: Van Nuys, Calif.
Date of birth: Oct. 23, 1966
Crew chief: Jason McCulloch
2010 wins/final rounds: 1/1 (1.000)
Career wins/final rounds: 49/93 (.527)
2009 No. 1 qualifiers: 9
Career No. 1 qualifiers: 40
Best points finish: 1st (2002, ‘03)
Countdown to the championship appearances: 2007, ‘08 and ‘09
First start: Pomona 1, 1995
Career-best elapsed time to 1000 feet: 3.783 seconds (Richmond 2009)
Career-best speed to 1000 feet: 321.58 mph (Pomona2 2009)
Larry Dixon enters the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals in third place in the NHRA Full Throttle point standings. He trails second-place Doug Kalitta by 35 points and points leader Cory McClenathan by 40 points. Dixon won the 50th annual NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Calif. last month. In Phoenix, Dixon was the No. 3 qualifier but lost to Steve Chrisman in the first round of eliminations.
Dixon is the defending champion and a four-time winner of the Gatornationals; he is tied with Joe Amato for the most Gatornationals Top Fuel wins. Last year at Gainesville, he was the No. 1 qualifier; he defeated Doug Kalitta, Morgan Lucas, Brandon Bernstein and Cory McClenathan on his way to victory circle. It was the first victory for the Al-Anabi Racing Team and His Highness Sheik Khalid Al Thani. Dixon also won the Gatornationals in 1995, 2001 and ’02.
Dixon won five races last season: Gainesville, Fla., Topeka, Kan., Englishtown, N.J., Norwalk, Ohio and Reading, Pa. He finished second in the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Top Fuel point standings just two points out of the championship in the inaugural season for Al-Anabi Racing.
Dixon has been an excellent qualifier so far this season. He qualified second at Pomona, Calif. and third at Phoenix; he was the No. 1 qualifier nine times last year including five of the six races in the Countdown to 1 NHRA Playoffs; he has never won more poles in a season in his career. Dixon was the No. 1 qualifier more than any other driver in Top Fuel or Funny Car last year. He was the No. 1 qualifier seven times in 2002. Dixon has been the No. 1 qualifier 40 times in his career.
Dixon has won at least one race at every track on which the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series competes except ZMax Dragway in Concord, N.C. and Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Ill.
Dixon won the NHRA Top Fuel championship in 2002 and ’03. He is currently third on the NHRA’s all-time Top Fuel winner’s list with 49 victories. Joe Amato is in second place with 52 wins; Tony Schumacher tops the list with 61 wins. Dixon is tied with Don Prudhomme for eighth place on the NHRA’s all-time career victories list; Dixon was the 1995 NHRA Rookie of the Year.
Dixon prior to Gainesville:
“Winning in Gainesville last year, with the way the season started with missing the race at Pomona, was huge. We knew we were a good team, but we needed to reaffirm it to ourselves. Winning the third race of the season at one of the biggest races on the tour was a great way to do that, and it was my fourth Gatornationals win. It was also our first win for His Highness Sheik Khalid Al Thani and Al-Anabi Racing. It took a lot of pressure off everyone because we represent the entire country of Qatar. With the investment Sheik Khalid had made in our team, the only way we could pay him back was with winner’s trophies so to be able to get that started early in the season was really nice. Alan (Johnson) already had plans to travel to Qatar after that race, so he was able to take the Gainesville Wally to Qatar and personally deliver it to Sheik Khalid so that made it especially nice.
“Looking back on Phoenix a couple of weeks ago, we were obviously bummed with the result, but that was a terrible weekend for reasons much more important than racing. The best thing about it is that we can put it behind us and move forward. We have an opportunity to get back on our horse and ride. We got knocked off in Phoenix, but now we get to get back on it. Hopefully the Sunshine state lives up to its name so we can get all of our qualifying runs in and hopefully get a lot of runs in on Sunday.”
For additional information on Alan Johnson and Larry Dixon, please visit www.alanjohnsonracing.com to view their full bios.
Del Worsham, Toyota Camry Solara Funny Car:
Residence: Chino Hills, Calif.
Hometown: Whittier, Calif.
Date of Birth: February 11, 1970
Crew Chief: Dickie Venables
2009 wins/final rounds: 3/3
Career wins/final rounds: 25/38 (.658)
Career No. 1 qualifiers: 4
Career-best points finish: 2nd (2004)
Countdown to the Championship appearances: 2009
First professional start: 1990
Career-best elapsed time to 1000 feet: 4.038 seconds (Pomona 1, 2009)
Career-best speed to 1000 feet: 312.35 mph (Pomona 1, 2010)
Del Worsham is ninth in the NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car point standings; he trails eighth place by 17 points and leads 10th place by one point. Worsham finished seventh in the 2009 season-ending standings. It was his first appearance in the Countdown to 1 NHRA Playoffs.
Worsham was the No. 3 qualifier at last month’s NHRA Arizona Nationals in Chandler, Ariz. but was upset by Tony Pedregon in the first round of eliminations. Worsham won three races last season; he visited victory circle in Madison, Ill., Bristol, Tenn. and Richmond, Va.
Worsham won the Gatornationals in 2004. One year ago at Gainesville, Worsham qualified third; he defeated Jeff Arend before losing to Tony Pedregon in the second round of eliminations.
Worsham has been an excellent qualifier so far this season. In the season’s first two races, Worsham has qualified second and third, respectively.
Worsham has 25 wins in his Funny Car career; he is seventh on the NHRA’s all-time Funny Car wins list trailing sixth place by just one win.
Worsham prior to Gainesville:
“The Gatornationals is an amazing race, and I always look forward to running there. I won it in 2004, and that was a big deal because it’s one of our majors. It’s right there with Indy (U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis, Ind.) and Pomona, (Calif.); everyone wants to win the Gatornationals. For our Al-Anabi Racing team, it’s the perfect time for a good outing. We’ve only won one round in two races, and we’re much better than we’ve shown so far. A solid showing at the Gatornationals will be a great way for us to get our season started. We want to compete at the level of excellence we all expect from ourselves.
“I don’t worry about where we are in the point standings because at this point in the season, it’s not such a huge deal, but I do worry about how many points we are accumulating. We aren’t accumulating enough right now. We need to get our performance back to where it belongs, and the points will take care of themselves. I understand how important every point is; I missed the countdown (NHRA Countdown to 1 Playoffs) by a handful of points in the first two years. It was close, and we want to be sure that doesn’t happen to us. We want to be sure the Al-Anabi Toyota is in good position to make the Countdown and then make a run at the championship. We want to start the process this weekend in Gainesville.”
For additional information on Alan Johnson and Del Worsham, please visit www.alanjohnsonracing.com to view their full bios.
About Al-Anabi Racing:
Al-Anabi Racing operates out of multiple locations in both the United States and Qatar. In the United States, the Brownsburg, Ind.-based operation is a two-car NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Team fielding entries in Top Fuel and Funny Car competition that is managed by Alan Johnson Racing. At the forefront of this team is His Highness Sheik Khalid Al Thani’s goal to promote the domestic and international awareness of Motorsports in the nation of Qatar. Alan Johnson is an eight-time NHRA Top Fuel Championship crew chief.