(12-1-09) DOHA, Qatar – Two of Al-Anabi Racing’s in-house world champions, recently crowned ADRL Pro Nitrous champ Khalid Al-Balooshi and former IHRA Pro Modified world champion Mike Castellana, are prepared to once again do battle on the outlaw eighth-mile and look to create a second straight all Al-Anabi Racing final during Round 2 of the Arabian Drag Racing League series at the Qatar Race Club.
After a pair of stunning performances out of the Al-Anabi Racing Pro Nitrous hot rods, including a mind-blowing 3.82-second, 196.24mph blast out of Balooshi’s trusty ’68 Camaro to take the No. 1 spot in qualifying and a 3.93/191.75mph effort from Castellana, the duo met in the final round for all the marbles, with no one being more satisfied than His Highness Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani.
“To have our two Pro Nitrous cars in the final,” said Sheikh Khalid, “is exactly the result we were looking for from this incredible team that we’ve put together. With the horsepower provided by Shannon Jenkins and David Reher and the addition of Jeff Perley and Justin Elkes, we’ve got a program here that is going to be very hard to beat.”
With nearly two weeks between Round 1 and 2 of the ADRL series, the Al-Anabi Racing Pro Nitrous team has maximized the downtime, compiling parts and reviewing data to elevate the performance and consistency of their nitrous oxide-assisted doorslammers.
“We came home with a laundry list of things we wanted to bring over, RacePak sensors and various other items that we’ve seen success with in Pro Stock, that we think will be beneficial to this program,” said Justin Elkes, a data acquisition specialist. “With an abundance of horsepower, which is something new to us Pro Stock guys, we’re really excited to be working closely with Shannon [Jenkins] to put apply this power to the racetrack.”
Elkes continued, “We’ve got more than enough power to get these nitrous cars well into the 3.70s and that’s what we’re looking to do, but we also want to be able to do it consistently.”
With one round of racing and a victory already under their belt, the Al-Anabi Racing Pro Nitrous team is well positioned to make a run at the first-ever Arabian Drag Racing League Pro Nitrous world championship in 2009/2010, but know that it won’t be an easy task, especially with the influx of competition from the surrounding Arabian Gulf Region countries.
Jeff Perley, best known for his time spent as crew chief for the Greg Anderson/Jason Line NHRA Pro Stock program that netted four world championships, referred to his first trip to Doha and the Qatar Race Club as an eye-opening experience, and has high expectations for the entire Al-Anabi Racing organization in the future.
“It’s almost been hard to grasp,” said Perley before boarding the Qatar Airways flight to Doha on Sunday. “It’s been an incredible experience and to see the Qatar Race Club, which is undeniably one of the best racing surfaces I’ve ever been on, and all the resources that we have to work with – it’s amazing.”
“I’ve got a lot of confidence in what we can do with these cars in terms of performance, and running well is at the forefront of our minds, but I’m equally excited about the opportunity to be a part of the Pro Modified movement. We’ve seen this class explode in popularity over the course of the last few years and we’re hoping to help usher this category into the top tier of the sport.”
Qualifying for Round 2 of the Arabian Drag Racing League series at the Qatar Race Club begins at 7:00 PM AST on Thursday, December 3rd, with a second round scheduled for 9:00 PM. A final round of qualifying will take place at 5:00 PM AST on Thursday the 4th, with eliminations getting underway at 7:00 PM AST.
For more information on the Qatar Race Club and the Arabian Drag Racing League’s season-opener, log onto www.qrczone.com
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