Columbus: Larry Dixon Friday summary

HEBRON, Ohio. (June 11, 2004) - Larry Dixon, who has driven his Miller Lite dragster to the win at National Trail Raceway the past three years, used a Dick LaHaie tuneup to claim the No. 9 qualifying position Friday at the Ohio facility. Dixon ...

HEBRON, Ohio. (June 11, 2004) - Larry Dixon, who has driven his Miller Lite dragster to the win at National Trail Raceway the past three years, used a Dick LaHaie tuneup to claim the No. 9 qualifying position Friday at the Ohio facility.

Dixon powered his Don "the Snake" Prudhomme-owned dragster to a performance of 4.679 seconds at 309.27 mph on his opening pass of the weekend. The 33-time NHRA winner followed that up by driving his Miller-backed rail to a run of 4.816 at 277.32 on a day that plagued by rain.

"On the first run, the car dropped a cylinder and we still made a pretty good pass," Dixon said. "We came back on the second pass and dropped two cylinders. We got the car qualified, which is the important thing."

The 1995 NHRA Rookie of the Year aims to move into the top half of the Top Fuel ladder on Saturday when nitro qualifying resumes at 1 and 3:30 p.m. (ET).

ESPN2 will televise 60 minutes of qualifying highlights from the Pontiac Excitement Nationals at 6 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, June 12 and show three hours of final elimination coverage at 3 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, June 13.