Dallas: Dixon wants strong showing in Dallas rainout

DALLAS (Nov. 1) - This weekend's replay of the postponed 15th Annual O'Reilly Fall Nationals in Dallas (Nov. 3-4) should be a better indicator of the true capability of Larry Dixon and Don Prudhomme's Miller Lite Top Fuel Team.

Much attention was paid to Dixon upon his arrival in Dallas two weeks ago as he was making his courageous comeback to the quarter mile after having survived a scary accident during the final round in Memphis (Oct. 8). The race, originally slated for Oct. 19-22, was re-scheduled due to consistent rain and thus also marked the postponement of Dixon's return behind the wheel of the 6,000 horsepower machine.

Therefore, it was last weekend's event at Houston Raceway Park that saw Dixon make his first passes down the track since having a metal pin inserted into his left fibula, a result of the surgery that followed his crash. Having won in his last two visits to the Houston track, Dixon was looking forward to his shot at returning to Winner's Circle for the third time this year - a place he would have been in Memphis if not for the accident. The recently-turned 34-year-old driver would not see his miracle comeback however as the Miller Lite Dragster lost traction and Dixon posted only the second opening round loss of the season.

"Other than feeling disappointed about our finish, everything felt good about my first round of competition back in the car," said Dixon. "I climbed in, had a good light, but we smoked the tires. I hated to have that happen in our first race back since Memphis, especially when we are trying to break in a new car. Our Miller Lite Team is better than that and hopefully we can redeem ourselves in Dallas this weekend."

<pre> Dixon's Career Results in Dallas Year Event Qual. Finish & Winning Driver 1995 Chief Auto Ntls. No. 7 Second Round-S. Kalitta 1996 Chief Auto Ntls. No. 9 Second Round-K. Bernstein 1997 Lone Star Ntls. No. 2 Runner-up-J. Amato 1997 Revell Ntls. No. 9 2nd Round-C. McClenathan 1998 Lone Star Ntls. No. 12 First round-M. Dunn 1998 Revell Ntls. No. 3 Semifinals-M. Dunn 1999 Castrol Ntls. No. 1 First round-A. Hartley 1999 O'Reilly Fall Ntls. No. 8 Second Round-S. Kalitta 2000 Castrol Ntls. No. 6 Runner-up-G. Scelzi

Snake Bites Don Prudhomme never lost in the finals at Dallas amassing a 3-0 record in three trips to the finals. His wins came in 1989 over Mark Oswald and 1991 over Kenny Bernstein, followed by the final win of his driving career in 1994 over Cory McClenathan.

2000 NHRA Winston Top Fuel Point Standings 1. Gary Scelzi 1,698 - - - 2. Tony Schumacher 1,547 151 out 3. LARRY DIXON 1,473 225 out 4. Joe Amato 1,352 346 out 5. Doug Kalitta 1,322 376 out 6. Kenny Bernstein 1,209 489 out 7. Cory McClenathan 1,125 573 out 8. Bob Vandergriff Jr. 950 748 out 9. Doug Herbert 859 839 out 10. Don Lampus 786 912 out

Dallas Event Schedule The following is the race schedule for the re-scheduled 15th Annual O'Reilly Fall Nationals in Dallas which has postponed due to rain. The television times for this event are also listed below;

Date & Time Location Fri, 11/3 11:00 a.m.  Qualifying session #1 3:00
p.m.  Qualifying session #2 7:00 p.m.  Qualifying session #3

Sat, 11/4 11:00 a.m. Elimination round begins

TV Times Thur, 11/9 5:30 pm/ET ESPN2 - NHRA Heat 1-2 pm/ET ESPN-Eliminations

Fri, 11/10 1-2 pm/ET ESPN2 - Eliminations (repeat)

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