Reading: Larry Dixon preview

* Larry Dixon has qualified for the Countdown to 1 Playoffs which begin Sept. 17-20 at the second annual NHRA Carolinas Nationals at zMAX Dragway in Concord, N.C. A total of 10 drivers will compete for the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Top Fuel ...

* Larry Dixon has qualified for the Countdown to 1 Playoffs which begin Sept. 17-20 at the second annual NHRA Carolinas Nationals at zMAX Dragway in Concord, N.C. A total of 10 drivers will compete for the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Top Fuel championship.

* Dixon is second in the NHRA Full Throttle Top Fuel point standings; he trails second place by eight points and is 225 points out of first place. He has four wins this season visiting victory circle in Gainesville, Fla., Topeka, Kan., Englishtown, N.J. and Norwalk, Ohio.

* Last weekend in Brainerd, Minn., Dixon was the No. 2 qualifier; he defeated Scott Palmer, Joe Hartley and Antron Brown before losing to Morgan Lucas in the final round of eliminations. Dixon has advanced to at least the semifinals in eight of the 16 races this season.

* One year ago in Reading, Dixon was the No. 6 qualifier; he defeated Doug Foley, Dave Grubnic and Antron Brown before losing to Tony Schumacher in the final round of eliminations. Dixon has never won at Maple Grove Raceway.

* Dixon won the NHRA Top Fuel championship in 2002 and '03. He is currently third on the NHRA's all-time Top Fuel winner's list with 47 victories. Joe Amato is in second place with 52 wins; Tony Schumacher tops the list with 59 wins. Dixon is in ninth place on the NHRA's all-time career victories list; he trails eighth-place Don Prudhomme by just two wins. Dixon was the 1995 NHRA Rookie of the Year.

Dixon prior to Reading:

"Anytime I leave a test, how we did is determined by how you do at the next race. After testing early last week, we qualified No. 2 and got to the final round at Brainerd. We were just on the wrong side of a great drag race in the final, but the car ran well on Saturday and Sunday. Jason (crew chief Jason McCulloch) and Alan (team owner Alan Johnson) are very optimistic we're heading in the right direction after the results we got in Brainerd, and I agree with them.

"When the season's all over, the things you talk about are how many races you won, who won Indy and who won the championship. So all those things are high on the priority list, and it's safe to say we'll be either second or third when the playoffs begin. Now Reading is next on the schedule, and I like going there. I've never won at Maple Grove Raceway, but I still like going there. After our performance at Brainerd, maybe we have a shot at knocking that race track off the to-do list."