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BRAINERD, Minn.(8/12/06) -- Larry Dixon drove his Don "the Snake" Prudhomme-owned Miller Lite dragster to the No. 3 qualifying position Saturday at Brainerd International Raceway as the veteran Top Fuel pilot made four solid attempts during qualifying. Dixon's quickest time came on his fourth and final run, a 4.550-second pass.
The two-time NHRA Top Fuel champion opened qualifying at the 25th annual Lucas Oil Nationals with two solid passes behind the wheel of his Don Bender-tuned dragster. Dixon's best elapsed time came on Friday's second attempt when he blistered the B.I.R. quarter mile in 4.644 seconds at 320.89 mph.
Dixon used a tune-up from Bender to blast the Miller Lite/Lucas Oil car to a performance of 4.575 at 323.66 to position his rail in the No. 5 qualifying position on Saturday's first run. It was Dixon's first 4.5-second elapsed time since the Englishtown, N.J. race in June and was the second quickest pass of the session. The 38-time NHRA winner followed up his 4.57-second blast by racing to his quickest run of the weekend when the Miller Lite rail maneuvered the B.I.R. strip in 4.550 at 323.97 to claim the third qualifying position. It was Dixon's quickest and fastest pass of the weekend and the quickest run of the final qualifying session. This is Dixon'! s best start since the Las Vegas race in April (second).
"I'm really happy for Donnie (Bender)," Dixon said. "The car is responding and doing the things he wants it to do. I don't believe it's the car as much as the knobs they're turning. They've turned the right knobs this weekend and the car is responding well so far."
"The chassis was a big deal," Bender added. "The old chassis was going away. A chassis starts going away around 125 runs. That car had a lot more runs on it than that. We were trying some things with the motor, but we put it back to the way it used to be and it has responded. We wanted to run a 4.57 today and it did. We wanted to run a little better on the last run and it did."
The 1995 NHRA Rookie of the Year will match-up against No. 14 qualifier Doug Herbert in the opening round of Top Fuel eliminations which begin at 11 a.m. (CT) at the central Minnesota track. Dixon is 24-7 in his career versus the North Carolina-based driver. They have 1-1 records this season.
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Dixon Powers to No. 3 Position to Finish Qualifying at B.I.R.
BRAINERD, Minn.(8/12/06) -- Larry Dixon drove his Don "the Snake" Prudhomme-owned Miller Lite dragster to the No. 3 qualifying position Saturday at Brainerd International Raceway as the veteran Top Fuel pilot made four solid attempts during qualifying. Dixon's quickest time came on his fourth and final run, a 4.550-second pass.
The two-time NHRA Top Fuel champion opened qualifying at the 25th annual Lucas Oil Nationals with two solid passes behind the wheel of his Don Bender-tuned dragster. Dixon's best elapsed time came on Friday's second attempt when he blistered the B.I.R. quarter mile in 4.644 seconds at 320.89 mph.
Dixon used a tune-up from Bender to blast the Miller Lite/Lucas Oil car to a performance of 4.575 at 323.66 to position his rail in the No. 5 qualifying position on Saturday's first run. It was Dixon's first 4.5-second elapsed time since the Englishtown, N.J. race in June and was the second quickest pass of the session. The 38-time NHRA winner followed up his 4.57-second blast by racing to his quickest run of the weekend when the Miller Lite rail maneuvered the B.I.R. strip in 4.550 at 323.97 to claim the third qualifying position. It was Dixon's quickest and fastest pass of the weekend and the quickest run of the final qualifying session. This is Dixon'! s best start since the Las Vegas race in April (second).
"I'm really happy for Donnie (Bender)," Dixon said. "The car is responding and doing the things he wants it to do. I don't believe it's the car as much as the knobs they're turning. They've turned the right knobs this weekend and the car is responding well so far."
"The chassis was a big deal," Bender added. "The old chassis was going away. A chassis starts going away around 125 runs. That car had a lot more runs on it than that. We were trying some things with the motor, but we put it back to the way it used to be and it has responded. We wanted to run a 4.57 today and it did. We wanted to run a little better on the last run and it did."
The 1995 NHRA Rookie of the Year will match-up against No. 14 qualifier Doug Herbert in the opening round of Top Fuel eliminations which begin at 11 a.m. (CT) at the central Minnesota track. Dixon is 24-7 in his career versus the North Carolina-based driver. They have 1-1 records this season.
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