NHRA

Sonoma: Larry Dixon Saturday summary

SONOMA, CA (AUG. 2) -- Miller Lite/Snake Racing Top Fuel driver Larry Dixon used a 4.584 elapsed time at a speed of 322.50 mph to place his dragster in the No. 2 qualifying position after Saturday's final qualifying session at the 16th annual NHRA ...

Published: Aug 4, 2003, 5:29 PM

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SONOMA, CA (AUG. 2) -- Miller Lite/Snake Racing Top Fuel driver Larry Dixon used a 4.584 elapsed time at a speed of 322.50 mph to place his dragster in the No. 2 qualifying position after Saturday's final qualifying session at the 16th annual NHRA Fram Autolite Nationals at Infineon Raceway.

The Don Prudhomme owned dragster smoked the tires but outlasted David Grubnic who also went up in smoke. Dixon posted a time of 5.631 ET at 163.06 miles per hour.

During the fourth and final pass Dixon paired against Doug Kalitta, but once again missed the set up and smoked the tires. The Miller Lite/Mac Tools dragster produced an 8.663 ET (94.19 mph) to Kalitta's 4.655 ET (317.34 mph).

"We made changes on the car after we qualified yesterday," said crew chief Dick LaHaie. "We went out there today being a little aggressive with the clutch to see how quick it could run. In the second session we pulled back and said we can't be that aggressive on the clutch."

After talking with assistant crew chief Donnie Bender, they decided to scale back. "We'll go back to our general area where we qualified yesterday and take a little bit away from it," said LaHaie.

Dixon's first qualifying run of the weekend, 4.584 ET (322.50 MPH) secured him the No.2 position headed into tomorrow's final eliminations. The Miller Lite/ Mac Tools dragster will face No.15 qualifier John Smith in round one of Sunday final eliminations.

Opening ceremonies of the 16th Annual Fram Autolite Nationals begin at 11:00 AM followed by final eliminations at noon. ESPN will air final round coverage tomorrow from 5-6:00 PM and 8:30-10:00 PM.

-www.snakeracing.com

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