NHRA

Topeka: Larry Dixon Saturday summary

DIXON SETS TRACK SPEED MARK EN ROUTE TO NO. 3 QUALIFYING SPOT AT HEARTLAND PARK TOPEKA, Kan. (May 28, 2005) -- Two-time NHRA Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon blasted his Miller Lite dragster to a track speed record Saturday at Heartland Park Topeka ...

Published: May 29, 2005, 4:13 PM

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DIXON SETS TRACK SPEED MARK EN ROUTE TO NO. 3 QUALIFYING SPOT AT HEARTLAND PARK

TOPEKA, Kan. (May 28, 2005) -- Two-time NHRA Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon blasted his Miller Lite dragster to a track speed record Saturday at Heartland Park Topeka as the 36-time NHRA winner qualified third at the 17th annual O'Reilly Spring Nationals with a 4.523-second elapsed time.

After driving Don Prudhomme's Miller Lite rail to the No. 14 qualifying spot on Friday, Dixon raced to the second quickest pass of Saturday's opening qualifying session to place the Miller Lite/Ameriquest dragster in the upper half of the Top Fuel order with a performance of 4.583 seconds at 326.56 mph.

"The sun came out and smiled upon us," assistant crew chief Don Bender joked. "We could have gotten bumped out, so we just had to slide it in there on the first run. After that, we were able to tune it up. We gave it a little motor and clutch and it ran better."

On his fourth and final qualifying attempt, Dixon blasted the Miller-backed rail to a run of 4.523 seconds at a track-record speed of 331.61 mph to place him third in the 16-car Top Fuel order. The previous track speed mark was held by Mike Dunn at 331.53-mph (May 2001). Dixon's 4.523-second elapsed time was the quickest of the final qualifying session.

"It was nice to be able to go down the race track on both runs," Dixon added. "We struggled on both sessions on Friday. To be second quick on the first run allowed us to push in the last session. We were low for the final session and it ran 331 (mph), which, I think, is a pretty good speed."

The 2003 winner of the Topeka event will battle David Baca in the opening round of Top Fuel eliminations on Sunday morning at Heartland Park. Dixon has a 6-0 mark against the fellow second generation racer.

-www.snakeracing.com

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