"It's a great accomplishment for this team to have put all four cars into the Speedtech Battle for the Belts," said Castellana, reporting in from his Westbury, New York-based office. "It's really showcased the ability of our team and all the hard work of our crew. Now, we just have to focus on keeping all these Al-Anabi hot rods in the Top 8 with a solid outing in St. Louis. This team has seen a lot of success here at Gateway [International Raceway] and we're hoping to continue that trend."

After an incredible weekend in Richmond, Virginia at the ADRL NATIONALGUARD.COM U.S. Drags II just two weeks ago, where Castellana, Jenkins and Balooshi occupied the top three spots in qualifying (each recording a stunning 3.8-second pass) with Balooshi advancing to the final, everyone is eager to see what the baddest nitrous-assisted doorslammers on Earth have in store for the Midwest.

"3.80s are good, but now 3.70s are our goal," said Castellana, excitedly speaking of the performance of the team's Reher-Morrison/Speedtech Nitrous engine combination. "We are only scratching the surface of what we can do. Richmond was our first outing with the new engine program and we were able to run 3.80s in the heat, not to mention we are still giving up a considerable amount in terms of weight - another thing we are working on. It's fixing to get pretty mean out there real soon."

Despite the forecasted 90-plus-degree heat for the St. Louis area this weekend, the ADRL's Friday night qualifying session is almost always subject to a record-breaking run. There is little doubt that Gateway International Raceway's awesome eighth-mile will likely play host to some big runs both Friday and Saturday night under the lights.

Jenkins, who is undeniably one of the absolute best in the world when it comes to navigating a hot and greasy drag strip, will surely be put to the test this weekend, but loves nothing more than a good challenge.

"We've got a group of bad fast hot rods here," said Jenkins, dubbed "The Iceman" by drag racing historian and broadcaster Bret Kepner several years ago for his unshakable focus. "We had both ends of the spectrum in Richmond with extreme heat during the day and 130-plus degree track temperatures with it cooling off dramatically in the evening. We expect something similar this weekend, and know that we can get the job done whatever the case may be."

A hot race track will ensure a tuner's race, but after the astounding performances only two weeks ago in Richmond, it won't rule out big numbers from the baddest in the business.

The Al-Anabi Racing Pro Nitrous squad will be allowed open testing along with the other cars in the ADRL's five professional categories starting at noon on Friday, with Jenkins, Castellana, Balooshi and Auxier getting busy in qualifying at 7:00 PM EST. Eliminations will follow two additional rounds of qualifying on Saturday morning; expected to begin at 4:00 PM EST.

To follow along with the Al-Anabi Racing team in Virginia, log onto http://www.dragracecentral.com for complete round-by-round race results.

Visit Al Anabi AWESOME Motorsports Sponsors: www.speedtechnitrous.com , www.redlineoil.com , www.msdignition.com , www.braswell.com , www.vistafood.com , www.westernbeef.com , www.aeromotiveinc.com , www.rehermorrison.com , www. spaghettimenders.com

Courtesy of Wes Buck