The last time three-time NHRA Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon raced for Rapisarda Autosport International was at the Reading, Pa., and Dallas races, and he said he was simply filling in for Las Vegas-bound Wayne Newby.

RAI announced Wednesday that Dixon will be back in one of its dragsters, this time back in Australia at the Nov. 4-5 East Coast Thunder meet at Australia’s Sydney Dragway.

He’ll be part of a three-car effort, as a teammate to Newby (who’ll have to scramble to get home from this weekend’s NHRA Toyota Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway) and Damien Harris, his final-round victim in his last appearance in Australia.

For Dixon, it will be a triumphant return. He last raced in Australia in June at the 2016 Willowbank Winternationals near Brisbane and defeated Harris in the Top Fuel showdown, with tuning by Lee Beard.

Once again the veteran crew chief will handle Dixon’s car. Santo Rapisarda Jr. will tune Harris’ dragster, and Santino Rapisarda will make the calls for Newby’s entry.

“The team is delighted to have Larry on board for the East Coast Thunder meeting,” team owner Santo Rapisarda said. “Larry is a world-class driver, and we saw that when he stepped into a fuel car for the first time this season at Maple Grove and ran a 3.79. He is popular with the fans in Australia and goes out of his way to sign autographs and merchandise and pose for photos. That to me is important, because the fans and their support mean a lot to our family and the team.”

Dixon gave RAI its best qualifying result in its six years of NHRA action at the Dodge Nationals earlier this month at Reading. His No. 5 starting position was RAI’s tops since it started racing in the U.S. in 2011. He stepped in because Newby had to return to Australia for business reasons. Dixon lost by a slim margin to Mello Yello Series title contender Brittany Force in the first round on her way to the final.

One year ago, RAI made history when the organization fielded four Top Fuel Cars at the East Coast Nationals. No one ever had attempted it – and Rapisarda said he won’t be doing it again.

“No, we tried it once and once was enough,” he said with a laugh. “Three cars are more manageable and we are able to employ our resources much more effectively. Sydney is our home track, and we want to put on a good show for the spectators, our family, and friends who come along to watch the racing. The next couple of weeks will be hectic. We’ve been here in America since the Indy Nationals [the U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis] in September. After Las Vegas this weekend we get to fly home and start prepping the cars for the Sydney meeting.”

With three of the expected seven entries, RAI teammates likely will have to race each other in eliminations.

Rapisarda said, “It’s happened before that RAI cars race against each other. At the Winternationals, we had three of the four cars in the semifinals. I’m not worried about RAI cars racing against each other. There are no team orders. I just want to see them race hard, fast and fair and good luck to all three cars.”