Columnist Larry Dixon: New drag strip has us hyped

Larry Dixon

Wednesday, April 5, 2000 | 10:37 a.m.

Larry Dixon, driver of Don Prudhomme's Miller Lite Top Fuel Dragster, is writing a daily column exclusively for the Las Vegas Sun in conjunction with the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

I would like to begin my first guest column here in the Sun by telling local race fans just how excited all of the NHRA drivers are to finally roll the dice at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend for the inaugural SummitRacing.com Nationals.

From the minute I heard that Bruton Smith was building a new track in Las Vegas, I could hardly wait to race here because I knew that it would be a state-of-the-art facility and that we would get great support from the race fans here in the desert.

I got a chance to see just what Bruton could do for the sport of drag racing last year when we raced at his Bristol Dragway.

I also learned firsthand just how many race fans there are in Vegas when I came to the first Winston Cup race here in 1998. I remember going to see Rusty Wallace, my Miller Lite Racing teammate, at one of his appearances before the race and the place was packed.

I thought about waiting until things slowed down a bit before saying hello but before I knew it, the guys from Bonanza Beverage had me sitting next to him and I was signing just as many autographs as he was.

Racing in Las Vegas this weekend also will be very special to me for another reason. My father, Larry Dixon Sr., drove Top Fuel dragsters in the 1960s and '70s, and actually won a divisional points race here. One of the proudest accomplishments of my career was winning the 1998 Winternationals in Pomona. My father won the same race in 1970, so to win another race in the same place he did would mean a lot.

My sister Kathy and I were basically raised around race tracks, watching our dad race almost every weekend at local tracks in Long Beach, Ontario, Pomona and Bakersfield, Calif. As a matter of fact, I went to my first race before I could even walk. Our family traveled a lot to watch my dad race throughout the West Coast, and even took long road trips on Labor Day weekend to Indianapolis for the U.S. Nationals -- the biggest race of the year.

Like most of my friends in high school, I took all of the auto shop classes, but most of the time I knew more about cars and engines than my teachers did. I got my first job in drag racing when I was 20 years old, working with Larry Minor Racing on Gary Beck's Miller American Dragster.

Two years later, I began my relationship with Don "The Snake" Prudhomme, which is obviously still going strong today. After working as a crew member on Snake's Funny Car and Top Fuel teams for six years, my dream of becoming a driver finally came true in 1995.

Tonight from 6 to 8, Snake will join me at an appearance at Hooter's on West Sahara. Thursday night, they have me going to Circus Circus from 7 to 9 p.m. and hopefully after that I will get a chance to lose a little money at the blackjack tables before we have to get ready to race when qualifying begins Friday at 2:30 p.m.

Again, I can't tell you how stoked I am to be racing here this weekend. I hope that all the race fans here get a chance to come out to the track and hopefully a few of you will stop by to say hello and wish us luck. A little luck in Las Vegas never hurt anybody. Larry Dixon, driver of Don Prudhomme's Miller Lite Top Fuel Dragster, is writing a daily column exclusively for the Las Vegas Sun in conjunction with the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

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