The Al-Anabi Racing Team and His Highness Sheik Khalid Al Thani
NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series
Fourth Annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals
Summit Motorsports Park; Norwalk, Ohio
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 Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in first place in the NHRA Full Throttle Top Fuel point standings. He leads second-place Tony Schumacher by 123 points. Last weekend in Bristol, Tenn., Dixon was the No. 3 qualifier but lost to Morgan Lucas in the first round of eliminations.
Dixon is the defending Top Fuel champion at Norwalk; last year, he was the No. 1 qualifier and defeated Steve Chrisman, Clay McMillan, Antron Brown and Brandon Bernstein on his way to victory circle. He is one of just three drivers to win a Top Fuel race at the suburban Ohio track.
Dixon has advanced to at least the semifinals in nine of the 12 events so far this season. He has six wins in the season’s first 12 races: 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 11 of the 12 races. Dixon’s average qualifying position so far this year is 2.75. He has been the No. 1 qualifier three times this season and 43 times in his career.
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. Tony Schumacher leads with 100 final rounds; Joe Amato is second with 99, 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 65 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 Norwalk:
“We probably used our mulligan in Bristol. The Al-Anabi dragster is still a great car, and we have a great team; we just didn’t have a good outing. The great thing about this team is the talent we have that allows us to diagnose a problem, assess it and then fix it. It’s exciting to see the great minds go to work. As we write this, Alan (Johnson) and Jason (McCulloch) are working on things to make sure we have a better outing this weekend. So from my standpoint, everything is in good hands, and we’ll get to Norwalk in better shape than we were in when we left Bristol.
“As the season goes on there are peaks and valleys within it. Bristol was one of our valleys, and when it’s all said and done, you hope you have more peaks than valleys. So far, we have six wins and two first-round losses. I think we’ll all take two more first-round losses if they come with six more wins.
“The big thing is the round wins. That’s what will keep us up in the points. I look at how many rounds are left in the regular season and how many rounds we have on other teams. Looking at the big points picture, the further we go on in the regular season, we are clinching spots higher up in the countdown so that’s all good, very good. We have to keep working hard to maintain our performance, and I am confident everyone on our Al-Anabi team is doing that.”
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 enters the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals in eighth place in the NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car point standings. He trails seventh-place Ron Capps by 31 points and leads ninth-place Tim Wilkerson by 1 point. He leads 10th-place Tony Pedregon by 61 points.
One year ago, Worsham was the No. 12 qualifier at Norwalk and lost to Ashley Force Hood in the first round of eliminations. Worsham has never won at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park.
Worsham advanced to his first final round of the season at Englishtown, N.J on June 13, and last weekend at Bristol, Tenn., he advanced to the semifinals. 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.
Worsham has been a solid qualifier this year. In the season’s first 12 races, he has qualified in the top five seven times; his average qualifying position is 5.75.
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 Norwalk:
“We’ve been able to put a couple of good races together now, and I think I can say that we have found some of the consistency that Dickie (Venables), Kurt (Elliott) and the rest of the team have been working so hard to find. The car is now running the way I expected it to run this season, and I think everyone on the Al-Anabi Toyota team is feeling better about our performance. The car is making consistent, good runs; I’ve been saying for months that if we could find some consistency, the round wins would follow, and they have. I think we’ll win a race in the near future.
“I can’t say that any one thing has changed and that’s what got us back on the right track. I think it’s just that all of the hard work has finally started to pay off. Dickie (Venables) has been trying so many different things, and I think the bottom line is that he hit on a combination that works. I know everyone on the Al-Anabi Team has been working as hard as they can to get our Toyota back on track, and all of us appreciate everyone’s hard work. Getting back to the winner’s circle will be a great accomplishment.”
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.