Gainesville postrace notes

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POSTRACE NOTES: MAC TOOLS GATORNATIONALS,

MARCH 6-9, GAINESVILLE, FLA.

TOP FUEL *Larry Dixon failed to qualify for the first time in his career in the Miller Lite Dragster. Dixon, from San Diego, had qualified for all 40 races he entered since starting his Top Fuel career in 1995.

FUNNY CAR *Defending NHRA Winston champion John Force lost for the first time since Oct. 13, 1996, in the Castrol GTX Pontiac Firebird. Force, from Yorba Linda, Calif., won the season-ending Winston Select Finals and the first two races of this year.

PRO STOCK *Warren Johnson set an NHRA speed national record of 199.91 mph in the GM Performance Parts Pontiac Firebird. Johnson, from Duluth, Ga., broke his record of 199.15 set at the Slick 50 Nationals presented by Western Auto in March 1995 at Houston. *The field was the quickest in NHRA history, with Pete Williams No. 16 at 7.011 seconds. The previous quickest field came at the Pioneer Electronics Keystone Nationals in September 1996 at Reading, Pa., where Danny Coffman was 16th at 7.037. *Eleven drivers recorded six-second passes during qualifying, an NHRA record.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE *Dave Schultz set an NHRA elapsed-time national record of 7.321 seconds on the Sunoco Suzuki. Schultz, from Fort Myers, Fla., broke the record of 7.344 set by Matt Hines at the Winston Select Finals in October 1996 at Pomona, Calif. Schultz earned $1,000 from the MBNA World Record Club. *Matt Hines set an NHRA speed national record of 186.37 mph on the Vance & Hines Suzuki. Hines, from Whittier, Calif., broke the record of 185.18 set by John Myers at this event in 1996. *The field was the quickest in NHRA history, with Joey Bartone No. 16 at 7.595 seconds. The previous quickest field came at the Mopar Parts Nationals in May 1996 at Englishtown, N.J., where Will Johnese was No. 16 at 7.640. -30-