The Al-Anabi Racing Team and His Highness Sheik Khalid Al Thani
NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series
23rd Annual Fram-Autolite NHRA Nationals
Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, Calif.
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: 7/7 (1.000)
Career wins/final rounds: 55/99 (.556)
2010 No. 1 qualifiers: 4
Career No. 1 qualifiers: 44
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 Fram-Autolite Nationals in first place in the NHRA Full Throttle Top Fuel point standings. He leads second-place Cory McClenathan by 172 points; Dixon has qualified for the 2010 Countdown to 1 NHRA Playoffs. Last weekend in Seattle, Dixon was the No. 2 qualifier; he defeated Terry Haddock before losing to Shawn Langdon in the second round of eliminations.
Dixon has advanced to at least the semifinals in 10 of the 14 events so far this season. He has seven wins in the season’s first 14 races: Pomona, Calif., Baytown, Texas, Las Vegas, Atlanta Dragway, Joliet, Ill., Englishtown, N.J. and Norwalk, Ohio.
Dixon has been an excellent qualifier this season having qualified in the top three at 13 of the 14 races. Dixon’s average qualifying position so far this year is 2.57. He has been the No. 1 qualifier four times this season and 44 times in his career.
Dixon has raced Tony Schumacher in eliminations eight times this season; Dixon leads the season series 5-3. In each of their eight meetings this season, the winning driver has gone on to win the event.
Dixon is tied with Joe Amato for second place on the NHRA’s all-time Top Fuel final-round appearances list. Tony Schumacher leads with 100 final rounds; Amato and Dixon have 99.
One year ago at Infineon Raceway, Dixon was the No. 2 qualifier but lost to Mike Strasburg in the first round of eliminations. Dixon won at Infineon Raceway in 2003.
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 55 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 61 wins. Dixon is fifth on the NHRA’s career round wins list with 572 round wins; fourth-place Bob Glidden has 597. Dixon was the 1995 NHRA Rookie of the Year.
Dixon prior to Infineon Raceway:
“The consolation prize for the weekend in Seattle is that the Al-Anabi team held its ground in points; we lost in the second round, but we only lost a few points off our lead. We have three races and 12 rounds of racing left in the regular season; we have almost a nine-round lead. Over the next three races, at a minimum, we want to defend our position and go into the Countdown as the No. 1 seed.
“In the last few weeks, you’re in the middle of four in a row, and your busy racing trying to win rounds and races. Then you have a week off, you stick your head up and see where you are. The Al-Anabi team did well points wise through that four-week stretch by winning 13 of a possible 16 rounds. So after that stretch you look at where you stand, reset and get back out there to get some more points.
“Our chance to sweep the Western Swing is gone, but you still want to try and do well at the next race. If we can win at Sonoma, that means there’s no sweep. Everyone except Cory (McClenathan) is trying to work on their own setups to try and keep him from sweeping. It’s nothing personal, we just want our own teams to rebound and do well for ourselves.
“It’s always nice to come back to the west coast. Sonoma is about as close as we get to Alan’s (Johnson) place (Santa Maria, Calif.) until the end of the year. He’ll have friends, family and employees at the track so you want to make for a happy time for everybody by doing well.”
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: 313.15 mph (Norwalk, 2010)
Del Worsham enters the Fram-Autolite Nationals in ninth place in the NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car point standings. He trails eighth-place Bob Tasca by 26 points and leads 10th -place Tony Pedregon by 134. However, Worsham is closer to third place than ninth place. He trails third-place Matt Hagan by 120 points.
Worsham’s Al-Anabi Toyota has recorded the fastest Funny Car speed of the event at each of the last three NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series races: Bristol, Tenn., 300.80 mph; Norwalk, Ohio, 313.15 mph and Seattle, 304.12 mph.
Worsham has advanced to at least the semifinals in three of the last four races. He lost in the rain-delayed finals at Englishtown, N.J. 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 14 races, he has qualified in the top five eight times; his average qualifying position is 5.79. Last weekend in Seattle, Worsham was the No. 2 qualifier; he defeated Brian Thiel before losing to Matt Hagan in the second round of eliminations.
One year ago at Infineon Raceway, Worsham was the No. 7 qualifier and lost to Tony Pedregon in the first round of eliminations. Worsham won at Infineon Raceway in 2001.
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 Infineon Raceway:
“Seattle was another solid outing for the Al-Anabi Toyota, so we have four in a row. We lost second round at Seattle, but we made great runs all weekend. In the three races before Seattle, we had two semifinals and a final so we have four good races in a row now. Our Al-Anabi car is a fast race car; we’ve had the top speed three straight races, and we are all happy with how the car continues to improve.
“We’re three races from the Countdown, and we’re doing our best to prepare the Al-Anabi team. We’re not locked into the Countdown yet, but we feel confident we will be. We want to start peaking when the Countdown begins at Indianapolis so we have three more races to get our team where it needs to be. We’re getting the point now where I feel confident about not just making the Countdown but making a run at the Full Throttle championship; the competition in Funny Car is so intense and close that we are in ninth place in points, but we’re closer to third place than we are to 10th place. That’s tight, but it means we can move up a lot in a hurry.”
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.