Photo By Dustin Senger | Record breaking results flash on a 660-foot race track during a Qatar Drag Racing...... read more read more
DOHA, Qatar — Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani, Al Anabi Racing owner and Arabian Drag Racing League founder, invited U.S. troops to spend a day at the track near Doha, Qatar, Jan. 22. Forty servicemembers from a close by U.S. military installation received VIP tickets to round five of the Qatar Drag Racing Championship — an event that eventually revealed a record-breaking drag race.
Thani, son of the Qatar emir, is widely known and respected as "Sheik Khalid" at the Qatar Racing Club facility. Last year, he spent millions of dollars to surround himself with the best crew, cars, equipment and research available. Qatar is emerging as "a hub for motor sports," said Sheik Khalid, by attracting quality racing teams throughout Arabia and United States.
"Racing is one of the few sports we share," he said, while mentioning a shortage of American baseball and football in Qatar. "I wanted them to get a taste of home." The troops had special access to the track and vehicle staging areas. The day's events started with various qualification and elimination races.
"This is exciting — exhilarating!" said U.S. Army Spc. Rosevelt McCoy, from Birmingham, Ala., while watching cars line up and take off from only a few feet away. The soldier deployed with the 203rd National Guard Military Police Battalion last summer. "I've been to over 20 races in Alabama but I've never been this close. There's rubber and fumes all over. I feel like I'm part of the pit crew!"
"It's an honor to be able to give the military men and women an opportunity to take their minds off Iraq and Afghanistan," said Kenny Nowling, president and CEO of the American and Arabian Drag Racing Leagues. "They can sit down, have a cheeseburger and watch a great drag race."
Arabian drag racing mirrors American procedures and safety regulations. The top two unlimited vehicle classes in Qatar are Pro Extreme and Pro Nitrous, neither class imposes performance modification restrictions. Each racing team depends on an effective blend of superior equipment and science. Alan Johnson is the Al Anabi Racing chief engineer. In 2008, he led Tony Schumacher's U.S. Army Top Fuel team to their fifth consecutive National Hot Rod Association championship title.
Sheik Khalid's Pro Extreme vehicle uses a 1968 Camaro SS body, equipped with a McAmis chassis. A Brad Anderson 526-cubic inch Supercharged Hemi motor rests under the hood, capable of unleashing almost 4,000 horsepower. It soars to 100 mph in less than a second. The Al Anabi Racing team expected to win round five of the Qatar Drag Racing Championship, as Sheik Khalid rolled to the track beside Von Smith of Barwa Racing. Smith, from Oakridge, Tenn., held a drag racing speed title.
During staging, the two blower cars darted back and forth to set their trajectories and burn a fresh coat of rubber over a VHT TrackBite surface treatment. The air filled with fumes from the alcohol-based fuel as the drivers revved their engines. While they waited for the lights to flicker from amber to green, Sheik Khalid and Smith knew the slightest hesitation stood between winning and losing.
The green lights illuminated. The cars instantly launched, heading 660 feet toward the horizon. The race ended in mere seconds; so close, it appeared to be a draw. The results lit up on a distant scoreboard.
Smith topped Sheik Khalid's peak speed of 207.59 mph by reaching an astonishing 209.43 — however, he didn't win. Sheik Khalid beat Smith's 3.684-second race by flying past the finish line at 3.679. His reaction time had been faster than Smith; five thousands of a second versus twenty-nine hundredths. Sheik Khalid is now the world's fastest full-body vehicle driver.
| Date Taken: | 01.22.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 01.23.2010 12:43 |
| Story ID: | 44338 |
| Location: | DOHA, QA |
| Web Views: | 1,433 |
| Downloads: | 1,027 |
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