Familiar Faces Win in Atlanta

Words and photos by Ian Tocher
5/7/03

HRA nitro stars Larry Dixon and Tony Pedregon won in Top Fuel and Funny Car, respectively, May 2-4, at the 23rd Annual Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway. Meanwhile, crowd favorite Warren Johnson won in Pro Stock, and Geno Scali topped the Pro Stock Bike class.

Larry Dixon and his Dick LaHaie-led Miller Lite team recovered from a serious fire in the final qualifying session to successfully defend their 2002 event title in Atlanta.

Dixon's event win reclaimed the Top Fuel points lead for him, after Brandon Bernstein took over the top spot a week earlier at Bristol, TN. Bernstein set both ends of the Atlanta track records in qualifying with a 4.506 pass at 327.98 mph, but fell in the second round, leaving him 35 points back of the leader, with Doug Kalitta, Doug Herbert, and Cory McClenathan rounding out the top five in points. Darrell Russell, Dixon's final-round opponent, moved past John Smith into sixth overall.

Over in the Fuel Coupe camp, Pedregon's fourth win after just seven races in the 23-event season left him with a 108-point lead over Whit Bazemore, who lost to Pedregon when he went up in smoke in the semis. Del Worsham left Atlanta in third place, followed by Pedregon's teammate Gary Densham, and Atlanta runner-up Johnny Gray.

Tony Pedregon earned his first Funny Car title in 1996 at Atlanta Dragway and this year's win was the 23rd of his career, which breaks a tie with his older brother, Cruz, for fourth place on the all-time win list behind John Force, Kenny Bernstein, and Don Prudhomme.

Johnson strung together some great reaction times to win in Pro Stock, including holeshot wins over his son, Kurt, in the second round and against his former employee, Greg Anderson, in the final. Kurt Johnson, who has won three times already this year, retained the points lead, followed by Anderson, his father, defending series champ Jeg Coughlin, and Bruce Allen.

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