Al-Anabi Racing and 2013 NHRA Top Fuel Championship Team Featured On H2 TV Series – Tonight!

BROWNSBURG, Ind. – – The Al-Anabi Racing Team and 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel World Champion Shawn Langdon will be featured prominently in an episode of “Rise of the Machines,” a 10-part series airing on H2, the team announced today.  The “Ultimate Dragster” episode, featuring Langdon and the team during the final weekend of their quest for the 2013 Top Fuel title, airs on Tuesday, April 15 at 10 p.m. eastern time on H2.

‘Rise of the Machines,’ was shot during the final weekend of the 2013 NHRA season in Pomona, Calif. and Santa Maria, Calif.  The majority of the documentary, produced by Windfall Films of London, was shot during the race weekend.  In this episode, the viewer takes a guided tour through the anatomy the NHRA-sanctioned Top Fuel dragster with perhaps more detail than ever before revealed.

(Photo by H2)

The episode features Langdon and the Al-Anabi team from the time the team arrived in Pomona to the championship celebration after the team clinched the 2013 title as well as 2012 NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel  World champion Antron Brown and his MATCO Tools team’s quest for a come-from-behind championship in season’s the final weekend. While the focus is on the cars driven by these two World Champions, the episode also delves into the psyche of NHRA competition and what it takes for these 8,000 horsepower machines to routinely reach 320 mph from a standing start in less than four seconds.

“It was really an honor for the Al-Anabi Racing Team to be featured in an international broadcast like ‘Rise of the Machines,’” Langdon said.  “We are all looking forward to seeing it this week especially since we are part of the show.  When we shot it out in Pomona last fall, it was such a big race for our team with so many things going on, everything really went by quickly.  It will be really neat to see it on H2 and hopefully, it will reach a lot of people who aren’t familiar with the Al-Anabi Racing Team or NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing.  Maybe we can show people how exciting our sport is and what it takes to make these cars go more than 300 mph on a regular basis.  Hopefully, we can get some new fans interested in our sport and the technology that makes it all work.”

‘Rise of the Machines’ is described on the H2 website:  “It is 2014 and the machines have not taken over…yet. The newest, most technologically advanced series from H2™, Rise of the Machines, reveals how the inventions behind the world’s most extreme machines have enabled them to evolve beyond humanity’s wildest imagination. This visually stunning series uses mind-blowing CGI animations to reveal the extraordinary engineering at the heart of the world’s most extreme machines. From the world’s biggest mega truck to the world’s fastest train to a revolutionary heavy-lift ship, ground breaking CGI animation explodes the machines apart to reveal the ingenious inventions hidden under their skin that enables the teams who drive, fly and sail them to be at the top of their game. This series takes us inside these machines in close up detail and explores what helps these elite ships, trucks, trains and aircrafts rise above all others.”

(Photo by Jeff Burghardt)

“Ultimate Dragster” is also described on the H2 website: “Stunning CGI animation explodes open the fastest accelerating vehicle on the planet–the Top Fuel Dragster–to reveal the extraordinary technology it uses to propel it to speeds over 500km/hr. In Pomona, California, the world’s fastest dragsters are battling it out in the final of the NHRA World Championships. Leading them all is the astonishing Al-Anabi Top Fuel dragster. But can its driver, Shawn Langdon, hold onto his advantage and win the championship? At critical moments, we will uncover the engineering breakthroughs and reveal the extraordinary lessons from history and nature that helped this lightning-fast vehicle evolve: What connects an ancient Chinese war machine with the dragster’s extraordinary acceleration? How did a 20 million year-old flying squirrel inspire a high performance brake? And how does the structure of bamboo keep Shawn safe in a crash?”

“Ultimate Dragster” is one of 10 one-hour documentaries that make up the ‘Rise of the Machines’ series.  Those that have already aired are “Super Airship,” “Mega Truck,” “Super Ship,” “800 Ton Digger” and “Heavyweight Helicopter.” After “Ultimate Dragster” airs, three more episodes will finish the series:  “Aircraft Carrier,” “Super Jumbo” and “Ice Crawler.”

For additional information about H2 and the “Rise of the Machines” franchise, please visit: http://www.history.com/shows/rise-of-the-machines