Columbus: Larry Dixon final summary

DIXON POSTS FIRST-ROUND FINISH AT COLUMBUS HEBRON, Ohio (May 22, 2005) -- Two-time NHRA Top Fuel champion (2002-03) Larry Dixon, who claimed his first low qualifier award of the season, raced to a first-round finish Sunday at National Trail ...

DIXON POSTS FIRST-ROUND FINISH AT COLUMBUS

HEBRON, Ohio (May 22, 2005) -- Two-time NHRA Top Fuel champion (2002-03) Larry Dixon, who claimed his first low qualifier award of the season, raced to a first-round finish Sunday at National Trail Raceway.

Dixon, who recorded his 24th career No. 1 qualifying position on Saturday, used the best reaction time of the opening round (.073 of-a-second) to race to the early lead over first-round opponent Doug Herbert before the Miller Lite rail lost traction, allowing Herbert's dragster to race around to earn the round win. Dixon's Miller Lite/Ameriquest dragster recorded a time of 4.873 seconds at 279.90 mph, while Herbert used a run of 4.629 at 327.19. It was Herbert's quickest run of the weekend.

"The track got better and that was evident because everyone was running better," assistant crew chief Don Bender said. "We didn't have time to make enough adjustments to counter that and it wore the clutch out and smoked the tires."

Dixon's Miller Lite team will service the dragster at National Trail Raceway on Monday, before making the drive west on I-70 to compete at the 18th annual O'Reilly Summer Nationals, May 26-29, at Heartland Park Topeka in Topeka, Kan. Dixon won the Topeka race in 2003.