The Al-Anabi Racing Team and His Highness Sheik Khalid Al Thani
NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series
31st Annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals
Bandimere Speedway; Morrison, Colo.
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: 8/8 (1.000)
Career wins/final rounds: 56/100 (.560)
2010 No. 1 qualifiers: 5
Career No. 1 qualifiers: 45
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 won last weekend’s Fram-Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. for his eighth win of the season. Dixon enters the Mopar Mile-High Nationals in first place in the NHRA Full Throttle Top Fuel point standings. He leads second-place Tony Schumacher by 211 points; Dixon has qualified for the 2010 Countdown to 1 NHRA Playoffs.
Dixon had a perfect event at Sonoma last weekend; he was the No. 1 qualifier, set low elapsed time and top speed of the event on his way to winning the race. It was the third time this year and the ninth time in his career that he has swept a race weekend. In addition, he has won all five of the races in which he was the No. 1 qualifier making him a perfect 20-0 in eliminations when competing as the No. 1 qualifier this season.
Dixon has advanced to at least the semifinals in 11 of the 15 events so far this season; he remains undefeated in final rounds with an 8-0 mark. He has eight wins in the season’s first 15 races: Pomona, Calif., Baytown, Texas, Las Vegas, Atlanta Dragway, Joliet, Ill., Englishtown, N.J., Norwalk, Ohio and Sonoma, Calif.
Dixon has been an excellent qualifier this season having qualified in the top three at 14 of the 15 races. Dixon’s average qualifying position so far this year is 2.47. He has been the No. 1 qualifier five times this season and 45 times in his career.
Dixon has raced Tony Schumacher in eliminations nine times this season; Dixon leads the season series 6-3. In each of their nine meetings this season, the winning driver has gone on to win the event.
Dixon is second on the NHRA’s all-time Top Fuel final-round appearances list with 100 final rounds. Tony Schumacher leads with 101 final rounds.
One year ago at Bandimere Speedway, Dixon was the No. 4 qualifier; he defeated Steve Chrisman before losing to Spencer Massey in the second round of eliminations. Dixon won at Bandimere Speedway in 2001 and ‘03.
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 56 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 62 wins. Dixon is fifth on the NHRA’s career round wins list with 577 round wins; fourth-place Bob Glidden has 597. Dixon was the 1995 NHRA Rookie of the Year.
Dixon prior to Denver:
“What happened to us in Seattle lets you know how tight the competition is and how good all the race cars are; we lost a good drag race there. So we went to the next race and hoped for a better result, and that’s what happened. The Al-Anabi car ran awesome all weekend at Sonoma. I am really thankful to be a part of this deal. I am sure these kinds of results are what Sheik Khalid (Al-Anabi racing team owner His Highness Sheik Khalid Al Thani) hoped for when he started this program, and it’s just a real honor to be a part of this team.
“I remember in 2002 and ‘03 when we were running off quite a few wins. I used to tell people that I was trying to enjoy it because at the time, I knew that kind of thing didn’t happen very often. I haven’t been a part of a team with a lot of wins like that in a long time, and it’s taken seven years to get back into a similar situation. I’ve been with different sponsors and worked with a lot of crew guys through the years, and now I’m with my second team. I am blessed to be a part of the Al-Anabi team, and I’m really enjoying it.
“With eight rounds of racing left in the regular season, and a 10 and a half round lead, I like our chances of securing the No. 1 seed for the Countdown and getting those 30 extra points over the No. 2 team. After going through last year, everyone on our team knows how important an extra 30 points can be going into the playoffs. We’ve done as much as we can to get those extra 30 points, but we have to stay with it for the last two races of the regular season. After that, 10 teams will start over and begin gunning for a championship. We are all looking forward to it.”
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 Mopar Mile-High Nationals in ninth place in the NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car point standings. He leads 10th-place Tony Pedregon by 160 points and trails eighth-place Ashley Force Hood by 66 points. Worsham is just 120 points behind fifth-place Ron Capps.
Worsham’s Al-Anabi Toyota has recorded the fastest Funny Car speed of the event at three of the last four 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 five races. 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 15 races, he has qualified in the top five eight times; his average qualifying position is 5.80. Last weekend in Sonoma, Worsham was the No. 6 qualifier but lost to Matt Hagan in the first round of eliminations.
One year ago at Bandimere Speedway, Worsham was the No. 10 qualifier and lost to Ashley Force Hood in the first round of eliminations. Worsham won at Bandimere Speedway in 2002.
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 Denver:
“The Al-Anabi Toyota team didn’t get the result we wanted last weekend in Sonoma, but we are still improving our race team as we get closer to the Countdown. We increased our lead on 10th place in the points so Sonoma was positive for the points. We only have two races left before the Countdown begins, so we are looking good to make it, but we have to stay focused and get our Al-Anabi Toyota back to winning rounds. We have eight rounds left before the Countdown so the more we win, the better we’ll be when we get to Indy (U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis, first race of the Countdown to 1 NHRA Playoffs).
“We are looking forward to racing at Bandimere Speedway this weekend. The Bandimere family has been a big part of NHRA for a long time, and I always like racing there. Everyone on the Al-Anabi team is just as focused as we have been, and we’ll be ready to go when we roll into Denver next weekend.”
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.