NHRA

Madison: Larry Dixon Friday summary

From The Snake Pit Dixon and the Miller Lite Dragster qualifying no. 2 at the seventh annual Sears Craftsman Nationals MADISON, ILL. (June 27) - The 2002 NHRA POWERade defending champion Larry Dixon and the Miller Lite dragster qualified No. 2 ...

Published: Jun 29, 2003, 9:00 PM

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From The Snake Pit

Dixon and the Miller Lite Dragster qualifying no. 2 at the seventh annual Sears Craftsman Nationals

MADISON, ILL. (June 27) - The 2002 NHRA POWERade defending champion Larry Dixon and the Miller Lite dragster qualified No. 2 after the first day of racing Friday at the Seventh Annual Sears Craftsman Nationals at Gateway International Raceway (June 25-29th). Dixon's much anticipated first pass of the evening produced an astounding 4.709 ET at 319.29 miles-per hour.

Nearly one year ago the Miller Lite dragster did the unthinkable, failing to qualify. Despite this Sunday's outcome, Dixon will leave St. Louis with his qualifying streak intact at 23 in a row. The Don Prudhomme dragster has appeared in eight of the last eleven final rounds and has won five of the eleven races this year, looking to tie the record of six consecutive final rounds in the Top Fuel class.

"I told the guys before we went up to make that run, if it runs 70 flat I will be ecstatic," said crew chief Dick LaHaie to his troops. "And it ran 70 flat (4.70 ET)."

After several track delays, Friday's second qualifying session finally occurred...early Saturday morning. At 12:13 a.m. Dixon beat David Baca on the second pass with a time of 4.674 ET (307.37mph).

"The way I feel about it, we're way ahead of last year," said an exhausted LaHaie. "Last year we took a 100-point hit at this race, now that we're qualified and racing on Sunday. We might just win this thing! That's what we'll try and do. We've never done very well at this track, so maybe it's our turn."

Two qualifying sessions remain on Saturday (6:00 PM & 9:00 PM CT) while Sunday's eliminations are scheduled for a 4:30 PM CT start.

ESPN2 will air qualifying starting on Saturday from 10-midnight with final round coverage of the Seventh Annual Craftsman Nationals airing on Sunday, June 29th 5-7:00PM ET.

-www.snakeracing.com-

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