(07-29-09)
DINWIDDIE, VA - There's never a bad
time to hit your stride, but the recently completed
ADRL NATIONALGUARD.com U.S. Drags II was where
it happened for "The Beast from the Middle
East" K.A. Balooshi - even though it would
mean plowing through one of the toughest fields
in the history of Pro Nitrous racing.
Doha, Qatar's Pro Nitrous phenom earned the
No. 3 qualifying position with an impressive
3.895 at 192.17mph on Friday night, his fifth
career 3.8-second run (6 total), setting up
a first round matchup with No. 14 qualifier
Travis Harvey. Despite losing a slight starting
line advantage to Harvey, Balooshi's Speedtech
Nitrous/Reher-Morrison-powered Camaro caught
and passed him by half track en route to a winning
3.952/189.98.
After dispatching a strong-running Stan Allen
in the second round of action, Balooshi would
then face his teammate and mentor Shannon "The
Iceman" Jenkins in the semifinals. Along
with Balooshi, Jenkins and the entire Al-Anabi
Racing Pro Nitrous team had been on a tear in
Richmond; occupying the top three spots in qualifying
with a string of 3.8-second runs. With a two-thousandths
lead off the starting line, Balooshi was able
to hold off the nitrous-racing legend with a
3.894/191.46 to a quicker, but losing 3.880/192.44.
"I was really pumped up to race Shannon
[Jenkins]," said Balooshi, a 3-time Arabian
Gulf Region Pro Modified champion. "Shannon
has helped me a lot; getting me comfortable
and relaxed in the car, being more confident
in my driving. To go up against him and have
a tight race in front of a big crowd was a thrill
for everyone - especially me. We've got friends
following these races back at home over the
internet and it was neat to have them calling
and being excited for me."
On the other side of the ladder, Jim Halsey
was able to edge out Al-Anabi's third semifinalist
Burton Auxier, setting up a final round showdown
between him and Balooshi.
Despite consistently improving his performance
on the starting line, Balooshi was a fraction
late out of the gate, giving Halsey enough of
an edge to take the win despite almost identical
performances - 3.908/191.29 to 3.900/193.38
- a little less than a car length at the stripe.
"We've had some really close and exciting
races against Jim [Halsey] this season,"
said Balooshi, checking in via cell phone from
his home in Doha, Qatar. "It's good to
go out and race against someone competitive
like that. Rickie [Smith, crew chief] has put
me in a great car, we're making killer runs;
going fast every time I let the clutch out.
We wanted that final round, but we know that
the big race is the Speedtech Battle for the
Belts. We want to leave Texas wearing that belt.
All these races are important, but we know that
we need to make it count when we have to, and
we're definitely going to do that."
Still excited from his career-best ADRL outing,
Balooshi went on to say, "Consistent 3.80s?
It's amazing, and it's all about Speedtech Nitrous,
Reher-Morrison Racing Engines and this Tim McAmis
Race Car."
