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Tuesday, August 11, 2009
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Dixon in the thick of it LUCAS OIL NHRA NATIONALS Sports Writer The 2009 season is one of fresh starts for Larry Dixon Jr.
It's the 13-year Top Fuel veteran's first season with Alan Johnson Al-Anabi Racing, a partnership between NHRA tuner Alan Johnson and Sheik Khalid Bin Hamad Al Thani, a member of Qatar's ruling family.
The change worked as Dixon has won all four times he's been in the finals this season and stands in third place in the season points standings behind the red hot Antron Brown and rival Tony Schumacher.
"I think it's been great," said Dixon. "We're a brand new team and we started from scratch. Everyone is experienced, but it's a brand new team. Every car you get into has a little different personality. The parts are new. The clutch is different. My own personality is new for the crew.
"I think we would like to be doing better, but we could be doing so much worse. We've won four times and that's not bad. We're right in the middle of it."
Dixon is 49 points behind Schumacher and 248 behind Brown, but he is securely locked into the Countdown to the Championship. That doesn't mean, however, that he's not looking for a win when he and his team battle in the Lucas Oil Nationals Thursday-Sunday at Brainerd International Raceway.
"Nothing changes for me because I go out and try to win every race," said Dixon. "If you win the event you gather the most points and you certainly get in the most runs, too. With the testing policy being you only get four tests per year, if you're going rounds you're getting more runs on everyone else and that helps gather information.
"I like Brainerd. I've won there two or three times with a few more finals on top of that. It's a good track. From what I understand they put down a new surface. Depending on the weather we should have quick times out there."
Dixon's last finals appearance at BIR came in 2007. He lost to Brandon Bernstein. He fell to Doug Kalitta in the 2005 finals and Kenny Bernstein in 2002.
He last won in 2001 and in 1999. He's qualified No. 1 at BIR twice with the last time coming in 2003.
Larry Dixon
Category: Top Fuel
Hometown: Van Nuys, Calif.
Age: 42
Sponsor/Car: Alan Johnson Al-Anabi Racing dragster
Crew chief: Jason McCulloch
Career wins: 47
2009 wins/final rounds: 4/4
Current points standing: Third
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"For us being locked in we're still trying to grab points," said Dixon. "First place is a little out of reach for us, but getting into second place is a definite possibility. You try to get the most points you can with what you've got. If we go into the Countdown in second place then we'll see what we can do from there.
"It all goes back to round wins. You may not win all the races, but whoever wins the most rounds is going to win the championship."
Dixon's four victories this season came at Gainesville, Fla., against Cory McClenathan, Topeka, Kan., against Clay Millican, Englishtown, N.J., against Brown and Norwalk against Brandon Bernstein.
The victory at Englishtown was just one of three finals losses by Brown this season.
"I think what he is doing is great for Top Fuel," said Dixon. "Good for them. As much turnover as they had, with a couple of different team owners over the winter, and for them to be running that well is a credit to them. They're winning races. That's good for the sport. It just makes us try that much harder."
JEREMY MILLSOP may be reached at jeremy.millsop@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5856.
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