Alan Johnson Al-Anabi Racing Pre-event Notes and Quotes

Larry Dixon, Top Fuel Dragster

Residence: Avon, Ind.

Hometown: Van Nuys, Calif.

Date of birth: Oct. 23, 1966

Crew chief: Jason McCulloch

Team owner: Alan Johnson

2009 wins/final rounds: 3/3

Career wins/final rounds: 46/86 = .534

Career No. 1 qualifiers: 33

Best points finish: 1st (2002, ‘03)

Countdown to the championship appearances: 2

First start: Pomona 1, 1995

Career-best elapsed time for quarter mile: 4.481 seconds (Pomona 1, 2005)

Career-best elapsed time to 1000 feet: 3.802 seconds (Phoenix 2009)

Career-best speed for quarter mile: 332.75 mph (Las Vegas 1, 2003)

Career-best speed to 1000 feet: 317.27 mph (Phoenix 2009)

■ Larry Dixon won the United Association NHRA SuperNationals in Englishtown, N.J. on June 13. It was his second win in the last three races and his third win of the season. He was the No. 2 qualifier at Englishtown, N.J.; he defeated Rit Pustari, Brandon Bernstein, Shawn Langdon and points leader Antron Brown on his way to victory. Dixon won the AC Delco NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla. and the O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals in Topeka, Kan. earlier this season.

■ Dixon is third in the NHRA Full Throttle Top Fuel point standings; he is 63 points out of second place and 97 points out of first place. Dixon has advanced to at least the semifinals in six of the 11 races this season, including the last three.

■ One year ago in Norwalk, Dixon was the No. 4 qualifier but lost to Dave Grubnic in the first round of eliminations. Dixon has never won at Norwalk.

■ Dixon won the NHRA Top Fuel championship in 2002 and ’03. He is currently third on the NHRA’s all-time Top Fuel winner’s list with 46 victories. Joe Amato is in second place with 52 wins; Tony Schumacher tops the list with 59 wins. Dixon is now tied with Jeg Coughlin for ninth place on the NHRA’s all-time professional victories list. Dixon was the 1995 NHRA Rookie of the Year.

Dixon prior to Norwalk:

“That three-race swing, I think we out-pointed everybody with two wins and a semifinal. We went from sixth to third, and it was a great run. I’ve had more time together with the team, I’ve had more time with Jason and Alan, Jason is getting to know the car better because he’s had more time with it, and we’re really coming together as a team now.

“The test after Bristol made a huge difference, and Jason is the one who called it. Even before we went to Bristol, they wanted to try a bunch of stuff with the car. Jason said once we started getting a lot of runs on the car things would start coming together. We went to Atlanta after Bristol and made a bunch of runs. Low and behold, we test, and since then, we’ve qualified well and won two out of three races, so it’s been really good.

“For me, it feels like we have less pressure on us now. Everybody on our team wants and expects to do well. We all have a past now; we’ve gone to 11 races together, and it’s more enjoyable going rounds and knowing the car is running well and I’m driving well. All of that takes pressure off of us; now you just have to go out there and do your thing.”

For additional information on Larry Dixon, please visit www.alanjohnsonracing.com to view his full bio.

Del Worsham, Toyota Solara Funny Car:

Residence: Chino Hills, Calif.

Hometown: Whittier, Calif.

Date of Birth: February 11, 1970

Crew Chief: Aaron Brooks

Team Owner: Alan Johnson

2009 wins/final rounds: 2/2

Career wins/final rounds: 24/37 = .649

Career No. 1 qualifiers: 4

Career-best points finish: 2nd (2004)

Countdown to the Championship appearances: None

First professional start: 1990

Career-best elapsed time for quarter mile: 4.712 seconds (Pomona 2, 2006)

Career-best elapsed time to 1000 feet: 4.038 seconds (Pomona 1, 2009)

Career-best speed for quarter mile: 331.36 mph (Pomona 2, 2005)

Career-best speed to 1000 feet: 310.41 (Pomona 1, 2009)

■ Del Worsham is fourth in the NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car point standings; he trails third place by 97 points and first place by 123 points. Worsham was the No. 6 qualifier at Englishtown; he defeated Matt Hagan before losing to eventual event winner Tony Pedregon in the second round of eliminations.

■ Worsham has two wins this season; he visited victory circle at St. Louis and Bristol earlier this year. One race ago at Joliet, Ill., Worsham was the No. 12 qualifier and lost to Tim Wilkerson in the first round of eliminations.

■ Last year at Norwalk, Worsham was the No. 7 qualifier; he defeated John Force before losing to Ron Capps in the second round of eliminations. In 1995, Worsham won the Top Fuel title in the IHRA World Nationals at Norwalk.

■ Worsham has 24 wins in his Funny Car career; he is seventh on the NHRA’s all-time Funny Car wins list trailing sixth place by just two wins.

Worsham prior to Norwalk:

“We are really looking forward to going to Norwalk this weekend; it’s a great facility run by great people. I have great respect for the Baber family and what they continue to accomplish at their race track. It’s one of my favorite places to go each summer, and hopefully, we can get our Alan Johnson Al-Anabi Racing Toyota Funny Car back in victory circle this weekend.”

For additional information on Del Worsham, please visit www.alanjohnsonracing.com to view his full bio.

About Alan Johnson Al-Anabi Racing:
Alan Johnson Al-Anabi Racing is a partnership between Alan Johnson and His Highness Sheikh Khalid Bin Hamad Al Thani. The team is a two-car NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Team fielding entries in Top Fuel and Funny Car competition. At the forefront of this partnership is Al Thani’s goal to promote the domestic and international awareness of Motorsports in the nation of Qatar. Johnson is an eight-time NHRA Top Fuel Championship crew chief. For additional information on Alan Johnson and the rest of the team, please visit www.alanjohnsonracing.com.