Columnist Larry Dixon: Crew chief, setup keys to winning

Larry Dixon

Friday, April 4, 2003 | 9:50 a.m.

Editor's note: Larry Dixon, driver of Don Prudhomme's Miller Lite Top Fuel dragster and the 2002 NHRA Top Fuel champion, is writing a daily column exclusively for the Las Vegas Sun in conjunction with the fourth annual NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals at The Strip at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

I was fortunate enough to win both races at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last year and it was at this racetrack last fall where I clinched my first NHRA Powerade championship.

People have asked me if there is something special about this racetrack that suits my driving style. From my standpoint, I don't think it's anything I do or like about the track as much as it's a matter of your crew chief and the time of year you roll in there and his past success and if he has got a good setup.

This track isn't like every other racetrack on this circuit; it takes some finesse to get down this track. It's a great, great facility but the altitude is a big factor so you have to adjust for that. And then weather can end up playing into it as well but the altitude is a big factor here. Some crew chiefs seem to be able to adapt better than others and my crew chief, Dick LaHaie, is the best in the business.

It's not like The Strip is a racetrack that's at sea level and it's 50 degrees every time we come here -- if it was, I could probably be a crew chief. But to be able to take your tuneup and make it versatile enough and to apply it to each racetrack, Dick LaHaie is your guy.

Like I said, we swept both races here last year but every year I've had a good feeling about the Miller Lite dragster when we've come to this track. I think there has only been one time in the past when we've come here that I didn't feel like we had a car that could win this race. There was only one time since we've been coming here where I didn't have that feeling and it was the first or second time we came to Las Vegas.

Every other time we've raced here we have put up some great numbers and felt like we were going to win and then some fluke thing happened. In 2001, when we were still battling with Kenny Bernstein for the championship, we put a cylinder out and went out and spun the tires; those kinds of things happen.

We had another time here where we had one of the air fittings break and so the clutch didn't work properly. We went out there and had whoever we were racing covered and it just wore the clutch out and we were done again. It was a freak deal but those are the kinds of things that happen to keep you from winning races.

The thing about drag racing is that you're only on the track for four and half seconds and you have to be perfect for those four and a half seconds -- there's no margin of error. There aren't 500 laps to make up for a bad pit stop or keep adjusting your car; there's just no margin for error out here.

As far as the weather goes this weekend, I just don't want it to rain. If you've got decent weather, that will bring the crowd out, the cars will run real well and we'll be able to put on a good show. I've won when it has been blistering hot and I've won when it has been freezing cold so I don't know that the weather is going to be a factor other than being able to put on a good show for everybody.

Well, it has been great sharing some stories from behind the scenes and I hope you have enjoyed them. Now it's time to put away my laptop and get ready to race. Hopefully when I meet you all here again on Monday, I'll be able to tell you about what it was like to win our third straight race at The Strip.

See you at the track.