LARRY DIXON JR. GETS THE CALL FROM THE HALL

by Bobby Bennett    Tue, 2021-01-05 16:35

 

When Larry Dixon Jr. was once asked if he'd be interested in being featured on CompetitionPlusTV's Legends: The Series, he scoffed at the idea of being considered a drag racing legend. Apparently, the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America shared the same opinion as those who wanted to feature him in a documentary..

This time, Dixon, the three-time NHRA Top Fuel champion who owns 62 national event victories, didn't respond the same way. The letter, which arrived in Dixon's mailbox on Dec. 21, left him speechless.

"Very humbling, and I'm very flattered," Dixon admitted.

Does the induction, postponed until September in Detroit, Mich., officially confirm he's a legend?

"I don't know," Dixon responded. "That's for you guys to decide. I'm still going to the drag races. I'm still very passionate about it, and I'm still having a lot of fun. I'll ride that horse 'til it ain't got no legs left."

And boy, what a ride it has been for the guy who got started by doing every odd job he could to assist his father during his years as a Top Fuel competitor. The same kid who, after his father retired, bummed rides with a score of drag racers who traveled out of the San Fernando Valley, including a bonafide legend, Don Prudhomme.

Dixon would eventually work for Larry Minor and later Prudhomme as a crew member before getting the itch to drive. He got his first shot behind the wheel of an A/Fuel Dragster, followed by a crack at Top Fuel for Prudhomme.

Prudhomme's confidence in the up-and-coming driver was rewarded with the 1995 Rookie of the Year award and a top-10 points finish for seven consecutive seasons before he captured back-to-back championships. Dixon added a third in 2010 with Alan Johnson's Al-Anabi Racing.

Some would say Dixon's selection for the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America is more than a victory for the driver, it's also one for NHRA in particular and drag racing as a whole.

"It makes me feel maybe a little bit better, I guess, of my position in drag racing," Dixon said. "Maybe not in NHRA, but in just drag racing that I'm not an outcast like I've been made to feel for the last three years."

The icy relationship has thawed somewhat in recent months with Dixon's reinstatement after an indefinite suspension that involved Dixon's two-seat nitro exhibition dragster.

It's true Dixon chooses not to focus on regrets because he asks, "How could one second-guess a career of being successful at the highest level of drag racing competition?"

With this said, Dixon would be remiss if he didn't mention how much he would have loved to have given fuel Funny Car a try.

"My dad raced Top Fuel cars, so I wanted to grow up and be like my dad. That's always been my first love," Dixon explained. "I went to work at Larry Minor's, and got to work on Ace's [Ed McCulloch] Funny Car. Then went over to Snake's and worked on his Funny Car. I grew to love those cars, and really wanted to drive them. Snake steered me away from them, so I never really got a chance to."

Driving a Pro Modified would have been his second wish.

"With my street car roots that would be as wild a thing that you could get in," Dixon said. "I really love those cars, and I love watching them, and the popularity of the class across all the different sanctioning bodies. They're huge. I'd like to have maybe sometime been given that a shot."

Dixon understands the complexity of driving either one of those volatile rides. He also understands the intimidation factor.

"I worked for Snake for 20 years," Dixon said. "I'm used to intimidation."

Dixon turned intimidation into motivation, and in the end, he has forged a career he could have only dreamed of when he became a driver in the mid-1990s.

"I got an opportunity to do a lot of great things, with a lot of great teams, over a long period of time," Dixon said. "If I wasn't involved in racing, I wouldn't have met my wife, and I wouldn't have those three kids. I've got a lot to be proud of in my time in the sport."

 

 

 
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