Joliet: Larry Dixon Friday summary

Dixon 15th After First Attempt at Joliet; Second Top Fuel Qualifying Session Canceled Due To Rain

JOLIET, Ill. (May 21, 2004) - Two-time defending NHRA Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon qualified his 'Vote Miller for President of Beers' dragster in the No. 15 position Friday following his first qualifying effort at Route 66 Raceway.

On his opening pass of the weekend, Dixon drove his Miller-backed rail to a performance of 4.797 seconds at 254.88 mph to grab the 15th qualifying spot. Immediately following the completion of Funny Car qualifying, mother nature opened the skies and rain canceled the second of Friday's two scheduled Top Fuel qualifying sessions.

"I'm glad that all of Funny Car qualifying got completed and the rains came before any dragsters went down the track so it's fair for everyone," Dixon said. "Tomorrow, we're going to try and make it run on all eight cylinders and improve our position."

Dixon hopes to move up the qualifying ladder and grab a higher seed when Top Fuel qualifying resumes at 1 and 4 p.m. (CT) on Saturday afternoon.

ESPN2 will televise two hours of qualifying highlights from the Route 66 NHRA Nationals beginning at 10 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, May 22 and show three hours of final eliminations at 7 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, May 23.

-www.snakeracing.com