Sun, 06 Sep 2015, 20:21 PM alBalooshi Qualifies No. 1

Courtesy of NHRA Communications Photo copyright 2015 Auto Imagery, Inc. Takes First Round Victory During NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series Action

BROWNSBURG, Ind. --

Khalid alBalooshi

Khalid alBalooshi claimed the No. 1 qualifying position and followed it up with a first round victory Sunday during the NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series portion of the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals, the seventh of 10 events on the Pro Mod schedule. This weekend's Pro Mod racing at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis is presented by JEGS.

alBalooshi pushed his Precision Turbo and Engine '69 Camaro to the No. 1 spot with a 5.845 second pass at 239.78 mph to earn his first top qualifier of the season and third of his career.

The 2011 Pro Mod world champion continued his weekend success with a first round win against Don Walsh Jr. and will race Troy Coughlin Jr. in the quarterfinals on Monday. alBalooshi is chasing his first win since 2011.

Sidnei Frigo, a Pro Mod newcomer, had a successful qualifying attempt to earn the No. 2 starting spot, but fell to Jim Whiteley in the first round. Whiteley will go up against Mike Janis in the quarterfinals. Janis, who won the most recent Pro Mod event in Norwalk in July, took the points lead from Gainesville winner Bob Rahaim after racing to victory over Troy Coughlin. Rahaim failed to qualify for Indianapolis.

"It's great to get the points lead at Indy, but it just adds to the pressure," said Janis. "I would rather come from behind at the end and get it, but it's all right. We'll take it round by round. It's really tough competition out here, tougher than I think it's been all year. Everyone is right on their game. It's a hot race track but everyone's going down, so it's going to be a tough deal."

Steve Matusek and Rick Snavely will also meet in the second round of eliminations.

Atlanta winner Kenny Lang and Englishtown winner Billy Glidden also failed to qualify.

Pro Mod Series eliminations will continue at approximately 1 p.m. on Monday.

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