The Al-Anabi Racing Team and His Highness Sheik Khalid Al Thani
NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series
10th Annual NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals
Bristol Dragway; Bristol, Tenn.
Pre-event Notes and Quotes
Larry Dixon, Top Fuel Dragster
Residence: Avon, Ind.
Hometown: Van Nuys, Calif.
Date of birth: Oct. 23, 1966
Al-Anabi Racing Team Owner: His Highness Sheik Khalid Al Thani
Al-Anabi Racing Team Manager: Alan Johnson
Alan Johnson Racing Owner: Alan Johnson
Crew chief: Jason McCulloch
2010 wins/final rounds: 6/6 (1.000)
Career wins/final rounds: 54/98 (.551)
2010 No. 1 qualifiers: 3
Career No. 1 qualifiers: 43
Best points finish: 1st (2002, ‘03)
Countdown to 1 NHRA Playoffs appearances: 2007, ’08, ’09 and ‘10
First start: Pomona 1, 1995
Career-best elapsed time to 1000 feet: 3.772 seconds (Houston, 2010)
Career-best speed to 1000 feet: 323.19 mph (Houston, 2010)
Larry Dixon enters the Thunder Valley Nationals on a two-race win streak and in first place in the NHRA Full Throttle Top Fuel point standings. He leads second-place Tony Schumacher by 199 points.
Dixon won NHRA SuperNationals at Englishtown, N.J. this past weekend winning his sixth race in the season’s first 11 events; he was the No. 3 qualifier and defeated Steve Chrisman, Tony Schumacher, Brandon Bernstein and Antron Brown on his way to the winner’s circle. Dixon is now tied with Joe Amato for most Top Fuel wins at the Englishtown track.
Dixon has advanced to at least the semifinals in nine of the 11 events so far this season. He has six wins this year: Pomona, Calif., Baytown, Texas, Las Vegas, Atlanta Dragway, Joliet, Ill. and Englishtown, N.J.
Dixon has been an excellent qualifier this season having qualified in the top three at 10 of the 11 races. Dixon’s average qualifying position so far this year is 2.55. He has been the No. 1 qualifier three times this season and 43 times in his career.
One year ago at Bristol Dragway, Dixon was the No. 4 qualifier; he defeated Pat Dakin before losing to Shawn Langdon in the second round of eliminations. Dixon won the 2002 event at Bristol Dragway.
Dixon has raced Tony Schumacher in eliminations seven times this season; Dixon leads the season series 4-3. In each of their seven meetings this season, the winning driver has gone on to win the event.
Dixon is third on the NHRA’s all-time Top Fuel final-round appearances list. Joe Amato and Tony Schumacher are tied atop the list with 99 final rounds, and Dixon is third with 98.
Dixon won the NHRA Top Fuel championship in 2002 and ’03. He is second on the NHRA’s all-time Top Fuel winner’s list with 54 victories; Tony Schumacher tops the list with 64 wins. Dixon is seventh on the NHRA’s all-time career victories list for all professional categories; Greg Anderson is in sixth place with 60 wins. Dixon is fifth on the NHRA’s career round wins list with 568 round wins; fourth-place Bob Glidden has 597. Dixon was the 1995 NHRA Rookie of the Year.
Dixon prior to Bristol:
“I was very happy for His Highness Sheik Khalid at Englishtown because he had so many of his cars in the final round. It was a shame we didn’t get to finish the race on Sunday when he was there; he couldn’t stay for the final rounds on Monday because of his travel schedule. All around, it was a great weekend for the Al-Anabi Racing Team. We won, Del (Al-Anabi Funny Car driver Del Worsham) made it to the finals, Frank Manzo won in Alcohol Funny Car, Von Smith beat Mike Castellana in Pro Mod, and Matt Smith made it to the semifinals in Pro Stock Bike so it was a great Al-Anabi weekend. With Sheik Khalid at the track Sunday and his father, the Emir of Qatar, in New York watching the show on ESPN2, it was a great weekend for the entire team.
“All racers wish and hope for a season like we are having, and to say things are going well would be an understatement. I know when we finished off last year, everyone on our team was really excited for the start of this season because everything felt like we were just getting going. And to have the season start out like this has been great, it really has.
“What Alan (Johnson), Jason (McCulloch) and Tony (Schumacher) did in 2008 (15 race wins and season championship) was like the perfect storm as far as performance and wins go. We are a long way away from equaling what they did that year, but it’s a great feeling going into each event knowing you are capable of winning, and this team certainly has that.
“Clinching a playoff spot this early is nice; it’s great to know right now that we have at least 10th place locked in. As we go to the last six races in the regular season, and our goal will be the same as the 11 we have already run. At the end of the day, when you enter an event, there’s money and trophies on the line, and we’re all there to try to get them so nothing about the next six is different from the last 11.
“I enjoy going to Bristol. Bruton Smith has given the place a complete makeover, but I went to Thunder Valley as a kid with my dad, and I dig that place. That drag strip is one of the places where I grew up, and going there to race is a little bit special because I spent so much time there when I was a kid.”
For additional information on Alan Johnson or Larry Dixon, please visit www.alanabiracing.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
Al-Anabi Racing Team Owner: His Highness Sheik Khalid Al Thani
Al-Anabi Racing Team Manager: Alan Johnson
Alan Johnson Racing Owner: Alan Johnson
Crew Chief: Dickie Venables
2010 wins/final rounds: 0/1
Career wins/final rounds: 25/39 (.641)
2010 No. 1 Qualifiers: 1
Career No. 1 qualifiers: 5
Career-best points finish: 2nd (2004)
Countdown to 1 NHRA Playoffs 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 the defending champion of the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals. Last year’s victory at Thunder Valley was Worsham’s second consecutive win. He defeated Jeff Arend, Cruz Pedregon, Tim Wilkerson and Tony Pedregon on his way to victory. He also won at Bristol in 2003.
Worsham advanced to his first final round of the season last weekend in Englishtown, N.J. He was the No. 9 qualifier; he defeated Cruz Pedregon, Robert Hight and Jack Beckman before losing to Bob Tasca in Monday’s rain-delayed final round of eliminations. Worsham is still seeking his first win of the season; he won three races last year visiting victory circle in Madison, Ill., Bristol, Tenn. and Richmond, Va.
Del Worsham enters the Thunder Valley Nationals in eighth place in the NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car point standings. He trails seventh place Ron Capps by 72 points and leads ninth-place Tim Wilkerson by 19 points. Worsham leads 10th place Tony Pedregon by 37 points.
Worsham has been a solid qualifier this year. In the season’s first 11 races, he has qualified in the top five six times; his average qualifying position is 6.27.
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 Cruz Pedregon by just one win.
Worsham prior to Bristol:
“The Al-Anabi team has made a 100 percent turnaround from the Joliet race and earlier events to Englishtown last weekend. We’ve been saying for most of the season that we needed to get consistent, and we’ve talked about how hard everyone has been working. Finally, all of that hard work started to pay off last weekend in Englishtown. Normally, a turnaround like we appear to have made is a gradual thing, but our performance changed a lot in basically five days. That kind of effort is a good example of the talented people who work on this Al-Anabi Racing Team. We aren’t there yet, but we’re a lot closer than we were; that feels good.
“It’s nice to be able to say that the Al-Anabi Toyota is running great, and we are coming off a great weekend at Englishtown. I now feel like we have a car that can compete every weekend, and that’s a good feeling. We didn’t get the win on Sunday, but we have another chance this weekend in Bristol. I am really looking forward to this weekend. If our car continues to run the way it did in Englishtown, we definitely have a shot at putting the Al-Anabi Toyota in the winner’s circle this weekend in Bristol.”
For additional information on Alan Johnson or Del Worsham, please visit www.alanabiracing.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.