Despite the loss of support from Al-Anabi Racing, Shawn Langdon and Alan Johnson Racing will be showing up, ready to roll this February in Pomona.
As the 2015 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season kicks off next week at the 55th annual Circle K NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Calif., the 2013 Top Fuel Champ will be in attendance, even if no new sponsorships have been announced yet and racer Khalid alBalooshi is no longer part of the team. Longtime Alan Johnson Racing crew chiefs Brian Husen and Jason McCulloch will serve as co-crew chiefs on Langdon’s Alan Johnson Racing dragster.
“We enjoyed our six years with Al-Anabi Racing, and we experienced great success,” team owner Alan Johnson said. “We appreciate the opportunity to compete for Al-Anabi Racing and thank Sheikh Khalid (Al-Anabi Racing team owner, His Excellency Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani) for everything he did for us. We had a great run, but now we must move on and focus on the future.
“We are going to Pomona with every intention of winning the Winternationals; we are in discussions with multiple entities about sponsoring our race team, and part of that process is showing the level of excellence at which our team competes. We won the Winternationals last year, and our goal is to repeat as Winternationals champions next weekend.”
The drag racing community has been waiting eagerly for news on what Alan Johnson Racing has planned as team members have been unable to grant interviews during the uncertainty. We look forward to seeing Langdon kick it in to gear and to learning more as the team finds funding.
Alan Johnson Racing won NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel world championships in 1997, ’98, 2000, ‘10, ’11 and ’13. The team won 42 races in the last six seasons with drivers Larry Dixon, Del Worsham, Langdon and alBalooshi. When the team has additional information regarding its future, it will make another announcement; until that time, team members remain unable to grant any interview requests.
Alan Johnson is one of the best. Sponships are there but big financial money isn’t . Because of the economy. I hope enough. Small sponsors get together. And get this team back into the winners circle again. Good luck. Best wishes