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Larry Dixon (drag racer)
Encyclopedia
National Hot Rod Association
The National Hot Rod Association is a drag racing governing body, which sets rules in drag racing and host events all over the United States and Canada...
. Larry is the son of Larry Dixon, Sr., who won one national event.
1980s and 1990s
Dixon's NHRA career began when he was a worker for a team owned by Larry Minor that had Gary BeckGary Beck
Gary Beck is a two-time World champion drag racing driver. Born and raised in the United States, Beck married a Canadian and they made their home in her native Edmonton, Alberta...
as driver. Dixon began his long friendship with Don "The Snake" Prudhomme
Don Prudhomme
Don 'The Snake' Prudhomme, is an American drag racer.-Racing career:In 1962, Prudhomme was a partner in the Greer-Black-Prudhomme digger, which earned the best win record in NHRA history, before switching to Funny Car. He would win the NHRA FC championship four times in his thirty-five-year career...
in 1988 while working on Snake's Funny Car
Funny Car
Funny Car is a drag racing car class. In the United States, other "professional" classes are Top Fuel, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycle. Funny cars have forward-mounted engines and carbon fiber automotive bodies over the chassis, giving them an appearance vaguely approximating manufacturers'...
. In 1994 he earned his Top Fuel
Top Fuel
Top Fuel racing is a class of drag racing in which the cars are run on a mix of approximately 90% nitromethane and 10% methanol rather than gasoline or simply methanol. The cars are purpose-built for drag racing, with an exaggerated layout that in some ways resembles open-wheel circuit racing...
license with 4.76-second pass at Gatornationals
Gatornationals
The Gatornationals is an annual National Hot Rod Association national drag racing event held each March at Gainesville Raceway in Gainesville, Florida. The event was held for the first time in 1970...
at Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...
. In 1995 his rookie season he earned Rookie of the Year honors. That season became third rookie to win $100,000 Budweiser Shootout, the first Top Fuel rookie to win at Indianapolis since Gary Beck
Gary Beck
Gary Beck is a two-time World champion drag racing driver. Born and raised in the United States, Beck married a Canadian and they made their home in her native Edmonton, Alberta...
in 1972 and set NHRA's elapsed time record at Englishtown.
In 1997 Dixon was the runner-up in Budweiser Shootout from the No. 8 qualifying spot. Then in 1998 won Pomona 1, joining his father on the Top Fuel winner’s list at the event. He qualified the first at Indianapolis. In 1999 he became the first Top Fueler to go under 4.5 secs.
2000s
In 2000 Dixon won six events in nine final round appearances, including the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals for the second time in his career. The victories propelled him to finish in the top 10 of the POWERade point standings for his seventh consecutive season. He also won the $100,000 Budweiser Shootout bonus event.Dixon earned first NHRA POWERade championship in 2002 after leading the points standings all season. He tied the single-season Top Fuel record for victories with nine, and was named Driver of the Year for the second quarter.
Dixon became fifth Top Fuel driver to win consecutive NHRA POWERade Top Fuel championships in 2003. He was the only the fourth driver in NHRA history to sweep the Western Swing. That year he moved to fourth on Top Fuel all-time win list and in the process recording his career-best speed (332.75 mph) which stood as national record for 15 events. He won the rain delayed 2002 Budweiser Shootout, which was completed at '03 season-opener
In 2004 he earned two victories in three final round appearances and finished his tenth consecutive NHRA POWERade Series season in the top 10 points. That season he tied legendary “Big Daddy” Don Garlits
Don Garlits
Donald Glenn "Don" Garlits is considered the father of drag racing. He is known as "Big Daddy" to drag racing fans around the world. Always a pioneer in the field of drag-racing, he, with the help of T.C...
for third on all-time Top Fuel wins list with 35 career victories. He finished second at the $100,000 Budweiser Shootout after gaining starting spot in bonus event via wild-card selection.
Dixon raced to three victories in seven final rounds in 2005 clocking a career-best elapsed time (4.481s) at Pomona 1 and also posted three No. 1 qualifying positions. His victory at Englishtown, on Father’s Day was his fifth consecutive victory on the day. With victory at Las Vegas 1, Dixon moved ahead of Don Garlits on all-time Top Fuel wins list. He won his third Mac Tools U.S. Nationals
Mac Tools U.S. Nationals
The Mac Tools U.S. Nationals is an NHRA-sanctioned drag racing event. The U.S. Nationals are considered the most prestigious drag racing event in the world. The distinction stems from the U.S. Nationals being the oldest, largest, and richest drag racing event worldwide...
that year. It was his eleventh consecutive POWERade Series Top 10 finish when he finished second in the POWERade point standings.
2006 saw Larry advance to his only final round of the season on Father’s Day (Englishtown), but lost on that day after having previously won the event for five consecutive seasons. He also posted four semifinal appearances and earned his twelfth consecutive POWERade Series Top 10 points finish. Dixon finished in the runner-up spot at four races in 2006, including the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals.
2008, Phoenix, AZ. Larry tied 2nd on All-Time Wins with Tony Schumacher with 43 wins in NHRA Top Fuel Competition. Then, only three weeks later in Gainsville, FL, Tony took over 2nd place on the All-Time winners table when he won the Gator Nationals. As of May 2009, Schumacher leads the table with 59 wins with Dixon currently on 44. Joe Amato ranks 2nd on All-Time leader board with 52 victories in NHRA Top Fuel Competition.
In 2009, Dixon left the Prudhomme Racing camp, and went to work as the Top Fuel driver at Al-Anabi Racing, with legendary crew chief Alan Johnson working his pits, as both crew chief, and team owner. Johnson himself had been crew chief with Dixon's biggest rival, five-time champion Tony Schumacher, and was the crew chief of perhaps one of Dixon's biggest rivals in his career, Alan's brother Blaine Johnson
Blaine Johnson
Blaine H. Johnson was a professional drag racer.Blaine, along with his life-long crew chief and brother, Alan, were competitors in the NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster Series, a series which they entered in 1988...
.
On November 14, 2010, Dixon won his third Top Fuel Championship at the season finale in Pomona, CA.
Sponsor Change
Penske Racing
Penske Racing is a racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series and NASCAR. They also previously competed in road racing, and Formula One. Penske Racing is a division of Penske Corporation, and is owned and chaired by Roger Penske...
in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (then called "NEXTEL Cup"). Larry Dixon then got a sponsorship on February 8, 2007 from SkyTel Wireless. In 2008, when teammate Tommy Johnson Jr. left to drive for the re-retired Kenny Bernstein
Kenny Bernstein
Kenny Bernstein is an American drag racer and former NASCAR and IndyCar team owner. He is nicknamed the "Bud King" for his success in the Budweiser King dragster, he has also been nicknamed "The King of Speed," because he was the first driver to break 300 miles per hour in the standing-start...
in the Monster Energy Drink Dodge Charger
Dodge Charger
The Dodge Charger is an American automobile manufactured by the Dodge division of Chrysler. There have been several different Dodge vehicles, built on three different platforms and sizes, all bearing the Charger nameplate...
, Dixon got the sponsorship of the U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co.
After Leaving the Snake
Dixon bought out the last year of his contract with Snake Racing, in order to sign with Al-Anabi as driver of the QatarQatar
Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
/Al-Anabi-sponsored top fuel dragster. His crew chief is Jason McCulloch, son of Funny Car legend and fellow crew chief Ed "The Ace" McCulloch. Dixon's Funny Car teammate is Del Worsham.
Out of nine final round appearances in 2009, Dixon won five, including winning the Gatornationals
Gatornationals
The Gatornationals is an annual National Hot Rod Association national drag racing event held each March at Gainesville Raceway in Gainesville, Florida. The event was held for the first time in 1970...
in Gainsville, Florida and was runner-up to Tony Schumacher at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals. Dixon finished 2009 just two points behind NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series champion Schumacher.
Dixon has yet to lose in the final round in 2010, netting four wins, including the 50th annual Kragen-O'Reilly NHRA Winternationals.
In 96 career final round appearances, Dixon has won 52 (54%). At the end of 2009, Dixon had compiled 537 round wins (5th all-time).