Las Vegas: Dixon brings power to the desert

Dixon And Miller Lite Dragster Look To Improve Their Track Speed Mark (And Hopefully Win) With Horsepower At L.V.M.S.

LAS VEGAS (April 3) - Larry Dixon was dealt two different kinds of hands at last year's inaugural Summitracing.com Nationals. His first hand was a lucky one as crew chief Dick LaHaie tuned Don Prudhomme's Top Fueler to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway speed mark of 317.27 mph. His second, not-so-lucky hand, hurt the most as Dixon saw a minor part malfunction contribute to his second round finish to Cory McClenathan. Dixon and the Miller Lite Team look to bring much more to the table at this year's Summitracing Nationals as they are coming off a runner-up finish at Houston while LaHaie has the car producing more horsepower than ever, including Dixon's career-best speed mark of 324.75 mph set at Houston Raceway Park (March 25). "Obviously Dick LaHaie has found some more horsepower for us over the last few weeks and has us running within the top two or three cars out there," said Dixon. "For this weekend, we will adjust for the weather and track conditions and still try and stay within the top two or three cars." Dixon, who's best elapsed time at last year's event was 4.673 seconds, believes that the track has only gotten better over the last 12 months and looks forward to returning to LVMS. "The track has been open now for a year and I think the asphalt has fully cured," said Dixon. "When the track heats up and the oil comes to the surface, and then you have the rain wash it away, it cures the track and makes it better. Whether the track lets us run 4.50s or 4.60s, we will still try and be the quickest." "I had no complaints with the track as it was last year. We had a 50-cent part break on our car, and that's what caused us to lose that round." Regardless of the type of hand that is dealt to him this weekend, Dixon will be ready double down and go for broke. <pre> Dixon's Career Results in Las Vegas

Year    Event           Qual.   Finish & Winning Driver
2000    Summit Ntls.    No. 6   Second round-McClenathan

</pre> Dixon Speaks about "Las Vegas!"
"Las Vegas is a great town. When we go there, everyone is really pumped to see us, and that is fun because it is not always easy to get that kind of response. There are some places we have been going to for 15 years and we still don't get the kind of response like we did right out of the gate here in Las Vegas last year."

<pre> 2001 NHRA Winston Top Fuel Point Standings 1. Mike Dunn 273 n/a 2. Darrell Russell 257 16 out 3. Doug Kalitta 245 28 out 4. LARRY DIXON 230 43 out 5. Gary Scelzi 184 89 out 6. Kenny Bernstein 159 114 out 7. Doug Herbert 145 128 out 8. Tony Schumacher 140 133 out 9. David Grubnic 139 134 out 10. Bobby Baldwin 133 140 out

</pre> Dixon & Prudhomme to Meet Las Vegas Fans
NHRA Top Fuel driver Larry Dixon and Hall of Fame driver turned team owner Don Prudhomme will be making appearances this week in Las Vegas where they will meet local drag racing fans.

Below is a tentative schedule for this year's 2nd Annual Summitracing.com Nationals:
Date-Time Location Thur, 4/5 6-8 pm Instant Replay Sports Pub Fri, 4/6 330/630 pm Qualifying sessions #1 & #2 Sat, 4/7 Noon/3 pm Qualifying sessions #3 & #4 6-8 pm (est.) Excalibur (Dixon & Prudhomme) Sun, 4/8 11:00 am Eliminations begin

-The Dixon Dispatch