(Ron Lewis photo)

Larry Dixon's win is his third consecutive and second in a row in the opening two rounds of the Countdown to the Championship playoffs. It also extends his championship lead to 85 points with four races remaining. The two-time Top Fuel champion traveled a difficult path to victory, defeating the current second, third and fourth-place drivers in the title race in Cory McClenathan, Tony Schumacher and Doug Kalitta. In the final round Dixon and his Al-Anabi Racing dragster ran 3.858 at 316.60 mph to a losing pass of 3.901 at 309.20 mph by Kalitta.
 
“I can’t believe the amount of wins we’ve had and the amount of finals we’ve been in without losing,” said Dixon. “It’s hard to imagine when you think about all the great cars that are out here. It’s a credit to the team. They are an unbelievable bunch of guys. As a fan of this sport, I realize how hard it is.”

(Ron Lewis photo)