Larry Dixon admitted that his chances of winning the Top Fuel title in Dallas were slim to none after Saturday's qualifying.

“After qualifying, I was just hoping to get past the first round,” Dixon said. “I didn’t know what our chances were because we didn’t make any runs down the track during the day. The only time we went down the track was in the night session.”

Dixon said crew chief Donnie Bender and assistant tuner Todd Smith burned the midnight oil on Saturday trying to diagnose the problem.

“Whether he’s lying to me or not, Donnie told me that he’s found the problem,” Dixon said. “They told me to be ready for it. We had some trouble during the day but the people we raced seemed to have more than us.”

Dixon claimed the point lead with today’s triumph.

 

Larry Dixon admitted that his chances of winning the Top Fuel title in Dallas were slim to none after Saturday's qualifying.

“After qualifying, I was just hoping to get past the first round,” Dixon said. “I didn’t know what our chances were because we didn’t make any runs down the track during the day. The only time we went down the track was in the night session.”

Dixon said crew chief Donnie Bender and assistant tuner Todd Smith burned the midnight oil on Saturday trying to diagnose the problem.

“Whether he’s lying to me or not, Donnie told me that he’s found the problem,” Dixon said. “They told me to be ready for it. We had some trouble during the day but the people we raced seemed to have more than us.”

Dixon claimed the point lead with today’s triumph.

"That’s just a fringe benefit of the win,” Dixon said. “I’m looking at the spread to fifth place. To me, that’s the only thing that matters at this point. It doesn’t matter what place you are in just as long as you are in the top four headed into Vegas.”

The Texas Motorplex victory for Dixon represented his first since 2001. Ironically, he was third in the points headed into the event and many of the opening headlines were focused on the drivers ahead of him – Tony Schumacher and Rod Fuller.

“They can have all the headlines and the spotlights,” Dixon said. “Every race you go to, you try to win. The guys had a great set up on the car. We stayed in the left lane all day and that was nice.”

 

Dixon didn’t see John Force’s horrific crash until moments before he ran the final round.

“I heard it happened and I was back in the pits,” Dixon said. “I didn’t see it until they played it [on the Motel 6 Vision Jumbotron] before the final round. I am glad that he’s alive and from that point you can fix anything. I think a lot of credit has to go to the Safety Safari, the rules package and the way these cars are built. It says a lot when you can survive an accident like that.”

Dixon said the fact Force is still alive and expected to make a full recovery says a lot about the safety drag racing demands.

“When I get in my car, I feel like I can run over a nuclear bomb and I’ll be fine,” Dixon said. “I feel safe in my car and I depend on that. I tell people that I would much rather crash at 330 MPH than in my rental car at 55 MPH. I feel safer. I have my Hahn’s device, fire safety suit and everything. You are protected.”