Khalid Al Balooshi remained upbeat on his fortunes in the Top Fuel drag racing series after being eliminated at the quarter-finals stage of the latest round at the Pacific Raceways in Seattle, Washington.
The Emirati, who had triumphed at Sonoma, California a week ago in the series organised by the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA), was beaten by his Al Anabi Racing teammate Shawn Langdon.
Al Balooshi said a problem with his car, which can reach speeds of up to 497kph, had not helped his cause, but he was not too down over his result.
“It was a good weekend for the Al Anabi team until the second round on Sunday,” he said.
“I don’t know why our car dropped a cylinder at the start of the run, it surprised us. When I finished the run, I asked Jason [crew chief Jason McCulloch] what happened, and he told me, ‘Balooshi, I don’t know why’, but I know he will keep working on the car to see what’s going on.
“But we had one of the best cars all weekend. All weekend, we went down the track every time with no problems.
“We have our car back, so that is good for the rest of the season.”
Langdon, the world champion, made the semi-finals before he lost to eventual event winner Doug Kalitta.
Al Balooshi and Langdon are back in action at the next round of the championship, in Brainerd, Minnesota, on August 15-17.
Follow us on twitter at @SprtNationalUAE
