This past weekend, Larry Dixon proved his driving adaptability in the NHRA ranks is incredible.

Dixon had made only one full pass in Tony Bartone’s Top Alcohol Funny Car May 1 at zMax Dragway in Concord, N.C., to receive his license, but he was a quick learner.

Dixon, a three-time NHRA Top Fuel world champion (2002-2003, 2010) and winner of 62 national events, added a Top Alcohol Funny Car victory to his resume.

Dixon won the Cavalcade of Stars race in Division 3 May 21 at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.

“The start of the weekend I was pretty nervous because weather played into things and we didn’t get a Test and Tune on Thursday and we were rained out on Friday (May 19),” Dixon said. “Then, we just had one shot of qualifying on (May 20) and we had the first round of eliminations that night and completed the race (May 21). By the end of the weekend, it ended up awesome.”

If Dixon had nerves, they didn’t show. He qualified No. 4 and advanced all the way through the field before finishing his improbable run by defeating Tony Bogolo in the final – in grand fashion with a 5.533-second lap at 265.37 mph.

“(Steve) Boggs (Dixon’s crew chief) and the team set the car up great,” Dixon said. “They gave me a great horse and we were able to put it in the winners circle. I really wanted to not be the weak link of the team and I just concentrated on everything I needed to do.”

Dixon’s victory didn’t go unnoticed in NHRA circles.

“One of the coolest things about the win was getting texts from people like Frank Manzo and Jonnie Lindberg saying good job and congrats,” Dixon said.

As he started winning rounds, Dixon acknowledged he started getting the hang of things.

“I don’t know how to explain it any other way than to say that when I first got in that car (May 1) and I was looking through the windshield, it looked really, really small,” Dixon said. “Then the more runs I made, especially by Sunday (May 21), I was more relaxed in the car and was feeling better.”

According to Dixon, he hadn’t raced in a NHRA divisional points race since he drove a Top Alcohol Dragster in 1993 in Division V.

“I ran like 10 or 12 races that season and I had just one round win in Topeka,” Dixon said. “In one day, I had three more round wins and a trophy, it felt really great. I was really excited about it and I’m just as proud of that as any of the others I have got.”

Sean Bellemeur will be driving Bartone’s TAFC in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series NHRA Northeast division on May 26-28 highlighted by the Showdown at Sundown on May 27.

Dixon, however, is anxious to get back in the seat.

“We are going to try and get together next week and figure out when we can run again,” Dixon said. “It was a lot of fun and I’m ready to go again. It’s just a scheduling issue. They have races set up with Sean and they are also running Tony with the nostalgia Top Fuel car. We will just wait and see what makes sense, and try and go then.”