Championship Drag Racing

Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals
Atlanta, Ga.
(May 13-16)

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Larry Dixon Miller Lite Top Fueler

Reports: Sunday Saturday Friday Pre-race

Atlanta, Sunday: Two-time consecutive NHRA Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon failed in his bid to become the first Top Fuel driver to win the Southern Nationals title in three straight seasons Sunday when the Miller Lite driver lost a close opening round battle to Clay Millican at Atlanta Dragway.

For the second consecutive race, Dixon's Miller-backed dragster made up one-half of the first pair of race cars to begin final round eliminations. Dixon, who qualified eighth, used a starting-line advantage and powered his 'Vote Miller for President of Beers' dragster to run of 4.608 seconds at 321.50 mph. However, Millican's dragster was slightly quicker, racing to a run of 4.560 at 320.51 to earn the close victory.

"From my standpoint being in the first pair isn't that big of a deal," Dixon said. "My job is the same if we're the first pair or last pair of cars to go down the track. Now, that might be different for (Dick) LaHaie. When you qualify eighth, you're going to run a car that ran exactly the same as you and that car is totally capable of beating you. We had a clutch malfunction on that run and we got outrun. It could have happened in the second round or the final round, but it happened.

"We didn't lose any ground to (Tony) Schumacher this week. There are 16 races left and we're 13 rounds out of the lead. If we make up a round a race, we'll be in good shape."

Atlanta, Saturday: Two-time defending NHRA Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon qualified his 'Vote Miller for President of Beers' dragster in the No. 8 position Saturday following the completion of qualifying at Atlanta Dragway.

Dixon powered his Dick LaHaie tuned dragster to a performance of 4.573 seconds at 323.43 mph on Friday's second qualifying effort to collect the No. 8 qualifying position. Dixon made two qualifying attempts on Saturday, losing traction on both runs on the hot Atlanta Dragway quarter mile.

On Saturday's opening pass, the Miller rail lost traction early in the run and coasted to a performance of 12.084 at 76.73. Dixon then recorded a run of 6.315 at 140.18 on his final qualifying pass of the weekend.

"We're heading into eliminations just like we always are, with our confidence level high," Dixon said. "On the first run on Saturday, a part in the clutch broke and on the second run, we didn't get the clutch to slip enough. Hopefully, we've solved those problems and can go rounds on Sunday, that's the goal."

Dixon, who eyes a third straight win at Atlanta Dragway, will face No. 9 qualifier Clay Millican in the opening round of Top Fuel eliminations at 11 a.m. on Sunday. Dixon has a 5-2 career mark against Millican.

Atlanta, Friday: Two-time defending NHRA Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon powered his 'Vote Miller for President of Beers' dragster to the No. 8 qualifying position Friday at Atlanta Dragway with a performance of 4.573 seconds at 323.43 mph.

Dixon, who will campaign the special 'Vote Miller' paint scheme during the month of May, drove his Dick LaHaie-tuned rail to the 4.573, 323.43 on Friday's second qualifying attempt. On the first pass of the day, Dixon's dragster lost a fuel line and coasted to a run of 7.488 at 102.39.

"We had a fuel line failure on the first run," Dixon said. "It was basically fix the fuel line, come back and try to go down the race track and get qualified, and I'm happy that we did that."

Atlanta, pre-race: Two-time consecutive NHRA Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon will trade his traditional Miller Lite colors for a more patriotic look with the "Vote Miller for President of Beers" paint scheme at the first of four three-race swings on the 2004 NHRA schedule beginning with this weekend's race at Atlanta Dragway.

"I think it's a pretty cool deal," Dixon said. "We live in America and have a democracy which allows us the right to vote for our leaders. Nothing is self-appointed. I think this is a great campaign by Miller to let the fans decide who the best beer is."

Dixon has powered his Miller Lite rail to three career victories at the North Georgia facility, including the past two seasons with master tuner Dick LaHaie calling the shots for the Don Prudhomme-owned dragster. Dixon aims to drive his "Vote Miller" car to the Atlanta Dragway winner's circle when the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series makes its only appearance in the Peach State for this weekend's 24th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals presented by Pontiac.

The only other Top Fuel driver to win the Southern Nationals in consecutive seasons is Gary Scelzi (1999-'00), while the only NHRA event that has seen Dixon race to three straight wins is National Trail Raceway near Columbus, Ohio. That being said, the 33-time NHRA event winner doesn't feel any added pressure to make it three in a row in Atlanta.

"You try to win every race that you go to," Dixon said. "I don't think there would be any more pressure to win at Atlanta than any other track. Any pressure you'd have at Atlanta is the same pressure you'd have going into any race on the schedule."

Last season at the Southern Nationals, Dixon drove his Miller Lite rail to the win and the head of the Top Fuel points standings, where he remained for the rest of the 2003 season. More remarkable than winning the race was the Miller team's rebound following a spectacular qualifying crash at the Bristol race one week earlier.

"With what our team went through and in such a short time span, it was a remarkable accomplishment," Dixon said. "To have half the team go back to Indy and prepare a backup car and then go to Atlanta and not only win, but run well showed what our guys are made of. When faced with adversity, they're up for the challenge."

Having won at a particular race track multiple times might make most people think that driver has an edge at a certain facility. However, Dixon knows that what happened in the past has no affect this season's event.

"I think the only advantage that it might give you is that you know at a certain point and time you had the right setup for that track and weather conditions," Dixon said. "It might give you an advantage making that many runs at that particular facility, but that's it."

Not only will Dixon and the Miller Lite team debut the new "Vote Miller" car this weekend, but Dixon's Miller Racing teammate and NASCAR Grand National Series driver Jason Keller and his Miller High Life team will attend the NHRA event at Atlanta following Friday's Grand National race at Richmond, Va.

"I think it will be neat to meet Jason (Keller) and his crew and get to hang out with one of my Miller Racing teammates," Dixon said. "I sure hope he brings his earplugs to the drag strip this weekend."