Las Vegas II: Larry Dixon final summary

Dixon Drives to First-Round Finish at Las Vegas LAS VEGAS (Oct. 31, 2004) -- Two-time NHRA Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon maintained his position in the NHRA Top Fuel points standings Sunday at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. After ...

Dixon Drives to First-Round Finish at Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS (Oct. 31, 2004) -- Two-time NHRA Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon maintained his position in the NHRA Top Fuel points standings Sunday at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

After posting a runner-up finish in the Top Fuel Shootout bonus event on Saturday at The Strip, Dixon and the Miller Lite team faced off against No. 9 qualifier Morgan Lucas in the first round of eliminations. The drivers had nearly identical reaction times before Dixon's Miller Lite rail dropped a cylinder and slowed to a run of 4.722 seconds at 306.26 mph, while Lucas' dragster powered to the second quickest elapsed time of the round to earn the victory. Dixon remains sixth in the points standings.

"We tore the engine apart after the run and there was no mechanical failure that would have caused the engine to drop a cylinder," Dixon said. "The car hasn't done that in months. It's kind of disappointing because I felt we had a car good enough to win both yesterday and today. This just proves that there are a million ways to lose a drag race and only one way to win."

ESPN2 will broadcast three hours of final eliminations coverage from the ACDelco Las Vegas Nationals at 7 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, Oct. 31.

The next NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series event is the 40th annual Auto Club of Southern California Finals, Nov. 11-14, at Pomona Raceway in Pomona, Calif.