The Al-Anabi Racing Team and His Highness Sheik Khalid Al Thani
NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series
Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals
Summit Motorsports Park; Norwalk, Ohio
Post-Event Wrap-Up
Top Fuel Winner – Larry Dixon
Qualifying: Al-Anabi Racing driver Larry Dixon was the No. 1 qualifier for the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals. It was Dixon’s fourth No. 1 qualifier of the season and the 44th of his career. During the Friday-night qualifying session, Dixon recorded a 3.780-second pass at 320.43 mph. Both the time and speed are track records.
Eliminations: Dixon won the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals to win for the seventh time in 13 races this season. He defeated Troy Buff, Doug Foley, Tony Schumacher and Antron Brown on his way to the winner’s circle.
Point Standings: Dixon increased his lead in the NHRA Top Fuel point standings. He now leads second-place Tony Schumacher by 176 points.
Dixon on Norwalk: “After last week’s race, the Al-Anabi team went back to the shop and literally worked until the 11th hour to make improvements to our race car so that when we showed up here, we would be better than we were when we left Bristol. I applaud them for that. It absolutely was a great race car today. This weekend was another great outing for the Al-Anabi Racing team, and hopefully, Sheikh Khalid is very proud of the entire Al-Anabi Team. We won, Frank Manzo won, Matt Smith won, and Del (Worsham) went to the Semis. It was a shame that the rain came, and we couldn’t do the group photo with all three teams. I know Matt really wanted to do that, and so did we. We increased our Top Fuel points lead, and that’s good news heading into the off weekend. We’ll be ready to go when we get to Seattle in two weeks.”
Funny Car – Del Worsham
Qualifying: Del Worsham was the No. 6 qualifier at Norwalk. His 4.087-second pass at 313.15 mph also happened during the Friday-night qualifying session. Worsham’s speed set the track record, and it was Worsham’s fastest speed to 1000 feet.
Eliminations: Worsham defeated Tony Pedregon and Jack Beckman before losing to event winner Tim Wilkerson in the semifinals.
Point Standings: Worsham drops one spot to ninth place in the NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car point standings, but he increased his lead on 10th place. He trails eighth-place Tim Wilkerson by 36 points and leads 10th-place Tony Pedregon by 104 points.
Worsham on Norwalk: “The Al-Anabi car is running really well now, and we made more progress this weekend. In order to win a race, everything has to be just right, and the team has made a remarkable turnaround. I am lucky to be driving this car, and I know that in the very near future, everything will come together, and our Al-Anabi Racing Toyota will return to the winner’s circle.”
Next Race: The Al-Anabi Racing team will be back in action July 9-11 at the NHRA Northwest Nationals in Kent, Wash. For additional information, please visit www.nhra.com.