Pomona2: Larry Dixon Saturday summary

POMONA, Calif. (Feb. 28, 2004) -- Two-time consecutive NHRA Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon qualified his Don Prudhomme-owned Miller Lite dragster in the No. 8 position Saturday after completing qualifying for the 44th annual Winternationals at Pomona ...

POMONA, Calif. (Feb. 28, 2004) -- Two-time consecutive NHRA Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon qualified his Don Prudhomme-owned Miller Lite dragster in the No. 8 position Saturday after completing qualifying for the 44th annual Winternationals at Pomona Raceway.

Dixon powered his Dick-LaHaie-tuned Miller Lite rail to a weekend-best run of 4.561 seconds at 319.75 mph on Saturday's first qualifying attempt. The 33-time NHRA event winner followed that up by clocking an identical 4.561 at 319.67 on his final qualifying effort. Doug Kalitta earned the low qualifier award with a run of 4.484 at 329.99.

"I'm pleased that we got our car qualified," Dixon said. "I think the performance isn't up to where (crew chief) Dick LaHaie wants it to be. So, we're working on trying to pick up the pace.

"The new equipment that we've got on the Miller Lite car has a lot of potential. With the amount of equipment that we changed over the winter and the lack of runs we have going down the race track with it, I'm still excited. The new combination shows a lot of promise and the more runs we make, the better the feel LaHaie will have and hopefully it we keep getting quicker and quicker."

Dixon, who looks to win the NHRA season-opener for a third consecutive season, will face Doug Herbert in the opening round of eliminations which began at 11 a.m. (PT) Sunday.

ESPN2 will televise two hours of final eliminations coverage beginning at 10 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, Feb. 29.