Photo Caption: Larry Dixon’s Top Fuel dragster in the Al-Anabi pit area at Las Vegas Motor Speedway being prepared for this weekend’s NHRA Big O Tires Nationals with the special pink paint scheme Dixon and teammate Del Worsham’s cars will sport this weekend promoting international breast cancer awareness.
Photo Courtesy: Richard Shute
For immediate release.
AL-ANABI RACING PROMOTES BREAST CANCER AWARENESS WITH SPECIAL LAS VEGAS PAINT SCHEME
BROWNSBURG, Ind. – – The Al-Anabi Racing Team will help promote international awareness for breast cancer with a special “pink out” paint scheme this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, it was announced today. The NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series is at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend for the 11th Annual NHRA Big O Tires Nationals.
With National Breast Cancer Awareness Month ending on Monday, the Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel dragsters driven by 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon and his teammate, Del Worsham, will sport a special pink paint scheme with pink spill plates and the familiar pink ribbon representing breast cancer awareness. Spill plates are the end caps on both the front and rear wings. In addition, the Al-Anabi Racing autograph handout cards will be pink this weekend.
The Al-Anabi team efforts are in addition to those of Las Vegas Motor Speedway where the starting-line area received a coat of bright pink paint for the event. All drivers and riders participating in the NHRA Big O Tires Nationals will be invited to affix a pink ribbon breast cancer awareness decal to their helmets and well as their cars and motorcycles. Volunteers will sell pink ribbons to the fans, who are invited to write the names of a person they know is affected by breast cancer. The ribbons will be prominently displayed at the track and all proceeds will be donated to Making Strides Against Breast Cancer.
The American Cancer Society website says that more than 230,480 invasive cases of breast cancer, more than 57,650 cases of carcinoma in situ (CIS, a non-invasive and the earliest form of breast cancer), and about 39,520 deaths in women will occur from breast cancer in the United States in 2011. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women, exceeded only by lung cancer.
The disease hits close to home with the Al-Anabi team and team manager Alan Johnson. His sister, Pam, was treated for breast cancer in 2007 and is currently fighting a recurrence of the disease. Pam will attend this weekend’s NHRA Big O Tires Nationals in Las Vegas to take part in the breast cancer awareness activities.
“As a survivor continuing my journey with the disease, I have personally benefited from important medical advances that helped locate my cancer at an early stage and then treat my cancer, giving me hope and courage to fight,” Pam Johnson said. “But in 2007 it was my attention to “awareness” that helped me to find a lump, and my journey as a breast cancer survivor began. Bringing awareness to the benefits of early detection and treatment of breast cancer makes a difference; it did for me, and my message to women has been to not let fear of finding a lump keep them from the commitment to self exams and diagnostic testing.
“The focused attention to breast cancer awareness in this country and internationally has also played a critical role in support of funding new research that will continue to improve diagnosis and treatment, get closer to a cure and ultimately prevent breast cancer.”
“The thing I promote most is early detection and diagnosis gives people a better chance to fight the disease,” Pam Johnson said. “Women and men are taught how to find a lump in their bodies, not be afraid and get treatment. The more awareness there is the better chance people have of surviving, but the ultimate goal is the cure or finding a way to prevent the disease.”
According to Qscience.com, a member of the Qatar Foundation, Breast cancer is a major global public health problem. It is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and one of the leading causes of cancer deaths in women worldwide. In Arabic countries breast cancer has become the most common cancer among women.
Breast Cancer is a public health threat in the Nation of Qatar; it is the most common cancer and the incidence rate is increasing. It has been found that women often present with breast cancer at advanced stages in Qatar. Early detection of breast cancer is an important prognostic fact, and breast cancer screening has been found successful in decreasing mortality rates. The percentage of women in Qatar engaging in screening activities is alarmingly low.
Think Pink Qatar is working to raise awareness among Qatari women. Its mission and vision are to raise the awareness of Breast Cancer to all residents of Qatar and to use that awareness to aid in the prevention, early detection and treatment of breast cancer. Think Pink Qatar also strives to provide resources and support to women throughout Qatar by connecting them with essential resources that will lead to proper medical treatment, support and humanitarian services that will ensure each woman is treated with the utmost respect and dignity regardless of race, creed, nationality or position.
“Breast Cancer affects people in Qatar, the United States and all over the world,” Al-Anabi Racing team manager Alan Johnson said. “We have a race team that competes in the United States but enjoys international support so we have a perfect vehicle to increase international breast cancer awareness and urge people to get tested early. We hope we can help people realize that this disease is treatable, especially if it’s caught early and that one day, there could be ways to prevent it.”
According to the American Cancer Society, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the United States, other than skin cancer. It is the second leading cause of cancer death in women, after lung cancer. The chance of a woman having invasive breast cancer some time during her life is a little less than one in eight. The chance of dying from breast cancer is about one in 36. Breast cancer death rates have been going down. This is probably the result of finding the cancer earlier and better treatment. Right now there are more than 2.6 million breast cancer survivors in the United States. For additional information, please visit the American Cancer Society’s website, http://www.cancer.org/.
Al-Anabi Racing operates out of multiple locations in both the United States and Qatar. In the United States, the Brownsburg, Ind.-based operation is a two-car NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series team fielding entries in Top Fuel competition that is managed by Alan Johnson Racing. At the forefront of this team is His Highness Sheik Khalid Al Thani’s goal to promote the domestic and international awareness of Motorsports in the nation of Qatar. Alan Johnson is an eight-time NHRA Top Fuel Championship crew chief. For additional information on the Al-Anabi Racing Team, Alan Johnson or drivers Larry Dixon and Del Worsham, please visit http://www.alanabiracing.com/ to view their bios.
