Columnist Larry Dixon: Tight duel adds extra excitement

Larry Dixon

Friday, Oct. 26, 2001 | 12:10 p.m.

Larry Dixon, driver of Don Prudhomme's Miller Lite Top Fuel Dragster, is writi' ng a daily column exclusively for the Las Vegas Sun in conjunction with the inaugural ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The season-long battle our Snake Racing Miller Lite Team has been in with the "red" car for this season's Winston Top Fuel Championship is really something special in the sport of drag racing.

If you are a fan of motor sports, you really can't miss out on this weekend's AC Delco Las Vegas Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

I haven't seen anything like this since Gary Ormsby and Joe Amato were battling in 1990, when it came down to the final round, the final run of the NHRA Winston Finals. Whoever won that race cashed in and while it happened to be Amato, both of them had six wins going into the last race of the year. Both guys had really strong cars, and by the way they performed that year neither one deserved to finish second -- but somebody always has to finish first.

If you are looking for drama, I don't know if you can find any more than what is going on right now, and to be a part of it is pretty cool. From everything I can gather, whether it's by talking with fans or reading messages from our website, it seems like everyone out at the race track drinks beer -- and you're either drinking Miller Lite or the other kind.

Kenny Bernstein's team and ours have just as much of a rivalry going -- just like the car manufacturers Ford and Chevy. I am not a new kid on the block, but Kenny is retiring soon, so there may be fans who are rooting for the young gun versus the old timer who is getting maybe his last shot at the title.

I would also like fans, potential sponsors and corporations to realize that our sport is not all about just one guy out there winning and beating everybody up in the Top Fuel class. Every team out here has a genuine opportunity to race and to win. I also think the NHRA's first year of a five-year deal with ESPN to televise our sport has been very strong.

I talk to people at Miller in Milwaukee and they know more about what's going on this year than ever because they know where to turn on the TV and find us, and that's important. The ratings for our shows are the highest in their time slots and are showing 200-700 percent better than years past. It makes me feel good to be part of a sport that people are tuning into and getting excited about watching.

Another reason drag racing fans have had to be excited during the NHRA's 50th anniversary season is the weekly announcement of the top 50 drivers in the sport. The list is currently down to the last five remaining drivers and I am happy to say that my boss, Don Prudhomme, has yet to be named, guaranteeing him a top-five spot.

Out of the thousands and thousands of people who have drag raced, I am working for somebody -- and continue to be taught be somebody -- who is one of the top five all-time drag racers.

As far as this weekend's race and the fight for the championship, I don't think I have any advantage over Kenny because he has done it all. But I don't think I am at a disadvantage either because I have Don Prudhomme in my corner -- who has a bunch of championships himself. And I've got our crew chief Dick LaHaie in my corner, who has driven and tuned to championships.

Our team is one of the strongest out here and our core group has been together for an awful long time, including some who used to work on Snake's car back when he was driving in 1994, so that is definitely worth something.

I am not going to try to make any predictions about this weekend's race until Saturday night when qualifying is all done. By that point, you've got four runs under your belt and so does the competition. Then you get a feel for how you're driving, how good your hot rod is and how good the competition is.

Whatever happens, we are going to try to get that trophy Sunday night. We are too close to winning the championship to not let it happen.