Columnist Larry Dixon: Trip to Victory Lane didn’t work out as planned

Larry Dixon

Monday, April 9, 2001 | 10:54 a.m.

Editor's note: Larry Dixon, driver of Don Prudhomme's Miller Lite Top Fuel Dragster, wrote a daily column exclusively for the Las Vegas Sun in conjunction with theSummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals at LVMS.

I had hoped to be writing my last column for the Sun and telling you all about our winning weekend here at Las Vegas Motor Speedway but, unfortunately, it didn't work out that way for us this time around.

We had a great car coming in here from our runner-up finish at Houston last week and for whatever reason we just never seemed to get a handle on the elevation and the track conditions. When that happens, at that point I am just the driver and I can't really explain why that happens. Crew chief Dick LaHaie and the team tried their best, but we just couldn't get the right engine and clutch combination we needed.

It's frustrating for me because we have a car that is capable of setting a national record and we're not getting to show it to the fans. Everybody on the Miller Lite Team is working real hard to make good things happen out here on the track, but we were just behind the rest of the pack all weekend. There were cars out there running in the 4.50s, so we know that the track was capable of it but we just didn't get it right.

I think that we have a very capable car and a capable team, and that is what you need in order to win. We just haven't done it here in the desert yet.

Thanks again to all the drag racing fans who have shown not only our team, but also the entire NHRA, such great support and I look forward to talking to you all again real soon.