Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Top Fuel title may be decided again in LV

Thursday, Sept. 5, 2002 | 10:03 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

For the second year in a row, the fall NHRA national event at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway could prove to be pivotal in deciding the Top Fuel championship.

Last year, Kenny Bernstein took a slim 15-point lead over Larry Dixon into the Las Vegas event. Bernstein lost to Darrell Russell in the final but still gained 39 points on Dixon, who lost in the quarterfinals. Bernstein went on to win the season-ending Pomona event and capture his second Top Fuel crown.

This year's Top Fuel battle has the earmarks of another classic between Bernstein and Dixon. Dixon threatened to wrap up the title early after winning seven of the first 11 events and holding a 259-point advantage over Bernstein in mid-June.

With six races remaining, Dixon's lead has slipped to 103 points.

On Monday, at the U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis Raceway Park, Dixon and Bernstein met in the semifinals and Dixon used a holeshot to beat Bernstein to the line by a scant 8 inches (.0014 seconds). Dixon lost to Tony Schumacher in the final but still managed to gain 23 points on Bernstein.

"We need to meet Dixon in the early rounds in order to pick up more points," said Bernstein, who is retiring after this season. "However, the liability is if you lose, you fall further behind. We were fortunate that Dixon finished runner-up instead of winning the event.

"We've battled back for the past five races, so at this event we had a bobble. Dixon has a great team -- you're not going to be able to make gains at every event left on the circuit. (But) we're still in the hunt and the championship is still possible."

The 2003 schedule features 23 national events and a return to all of this year's venues. The one change has the Sears Craftsman NHRA Nationals in Madison, Ill., moving to a night race, with professional competition on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.

The Strip at LVMS will host NHRA national events April 3-6 and Oct. 23-25 next year.