Indy ORP: Toyota final report

WIDENS LEAD IN COUNTDOWN PLAYOFFS

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (September 6, 2010) -- Larry Dixon defeated Cory McClenathan in the finals to win his 10th race of the season and give him his fourth career U.S. Nationals victory at O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis on Sunday.

With the victory, Dixon remains undefeated in the finals this season at a perfect 10-for-10. He also extended his lead in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs to 45 points over McClenathan with five races remaining.

Dixon and McClenathan were on a collision course throughout the weekend as they combined to lead four of the five qualifying sessions. Dixon eventually edged out his rival for the number one qualifying position on Saturday night with a new track record run of 3.776 seconds. The two-time Top Fuel champion defeated Bruce Litton, Steve Torrence and Shawn Langdon before his showdown with McClenathan. Dixon has now reached the semi-finals or finals in 12 of the last 14 NHRA Top Fuel events.

Langdon also advanced to the semi-finals on Sunday before falling to Dixon. Langdon eliminated fellow Toyota driver Antron Brown in the first round and Brandon Bernstein in round two. With the strong weekend, he has moved up to fourth-place in the Countdown standings.

Langdon's teammate, Morgan Lucas, won his first-round contest on Sunday before being defeated in round two by Tony Schumacher. Lucas maintained his eighth-place position in the points race.

In Funny Cars, Cruz Pedregon advanced to the second round after a strong fourth in qualifying before falling to series point leader John Force. Del Worsham was eliminated in the first round after qualifying 11th. The NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series resumes with the second round of the Countdown to the Championship playoffs at the O'Reilly Auto Parts Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, N.C., Sept. 17-19.

-source: toyota