Larry
Dixon raced to his second consecutive No. 1 qualifying performance of
the season in Top Fuel Saturday at the ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals.

Bob Tasca, Mike Edwards and Matt Smith also will lead their categories
into Sunday’s 11 a.m. eliminations at the third of 24 events in the
NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. ESPN will provide three hours of
television coverage of the race starting at 3 p.m. (ET) Sunday.

Dixon covered the race distance in 3.886 seconds at 308.28 mph in his
Al-Anabi Racing dragster to earn the 33rd top qualifying effort of his
career and second at Gainesville Raceway. Dixon, also No. 1 at Phoenix
three weeks ago, will face Winternationals winner Doug Kalitta in the
opening round.

A limited number of $20 Race Fan Relief tickets are available for this weekend’s Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals. A small portion of the $20 Race Fan Relief tickets remain for Friday and Sunday’s racing at Atlanta Dragway.

First-round pairings for professional eliminations Sunday at the
40th annual ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway, the
third of 24 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.
Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday. DNQs
listed below pairings.

George Landis, from Boynton Beach, Fla., was checked and
released by NHRA emergency services officials after his Judge Racing
Team Stratus went out of control, crossed the centerline and impacted
both guardwalls before coming to rest just past the finish line during
the final qualifying session of Pro Modified.

Roger Richards captured the photo sequence.

The same run last year would have ended in disappointment. .
 
This year, the run puts Bob Tasca III and his Motorcraft Mustang Funny
Car on the provisional pole at the NHRA Full Throttle AC Delco
Gatornationals in Gainesville, Florida.
 
Tasca turned in a solid 4.124, 296.76 in the first qualifying session
and then backed it up with a 4.189, 293.98 in the second session. While
the second run was smooth from start to finish, it was the first run,
despite issues which was fastest.
 
“The interesting thing on that (first) run, I never would have been
able to make that run last year from one standpoint, I wasn't straight
going into the first beam,” Tasca explained. “We've got a new guy
backing me up and I was crooked. Shame on me, I should have picked it
up earlier. I knew I wasn't in the right direction. I was pointing at
the walls.”
 

Even for a seasoned driver like Larry Dixon, the more runs a driver makes the more in tune the driver gets with his car.
 
Dixon, in his third race as driver of the newly formed Alan Johnson Al
Anabi team, already has a leg up on his second pole position. Clearly
two out of three isn’t bad for the 43-time winner.
 
Dixon ran a 3.902 elapsed time at 310.20 miles per hour to qualify No.
1 during the first day of the NHRA ACDelco Gatornationals in
Gainesville, Fla.
 
“I am getting less coaching on the procedures of the car,” Dixon said. “I am in a routine now.”
 
One might find it hard to believe a driver of Dixon's caliber needs any
kind of coaching. He’s quick to point out there’s always something to
learn when you join a new team, as he did this season.

The opening day of the Get Screened America Pro Mod Challenge presented
by ProCare Rx met expectations of excitement and thrilling racing,
ending with R2B2 Racing team owner Roger Burgess on the provisional pole.
 
Burgess' field-leading salvo in his '67 Camaro registered 5.993/243.55,
the quickest run of his career and the fastest thus far of the event.
Smiling from ear-to-ear, Burgess said, "that was a lot of fun."
 
"Al [Billes, Burgess' tuner] had the car 'hopped up' as he calls it,
and we were able to record our first five-second run with me as a
driver."
 
Just behind Burgess was Danny Rowe in his Sterling Bridge '67 Camaro.
Rowe said, "We had a tough time in the first round, but Jimmy Rector
[crew chief] made some adjustments on the car and we ran a six-flat. He
did everything he needed to do, settled the car down and it went right
down the track."

Mike Edwards still finds success a foreign experience.
 
For the second event in a row, the ART-sponsored driver heads into the
final day of qualifying at the NHRA Gatornationals as the Pro Stock provisional low qualifier.
 
Edwards turned in a 6.582 elapsed time at 209.10 miles per hour to lead
Greg Anderson by over .01 of a second. It's a feat he would have
dismissed a year ago as fantasy talk.
 
He’s learning that 2009 is quickly becoming the season where fantasy crosses paths with reality.
 
“I’m not real used to this to be honest,” Edwards admitted. “This is
very nice and rewarding at the same time when you put this much effort
in and get these kinds of results. This is rewarding. I am appreciative
of everything and want to give God the glory for our accomplishment.”

Some riders are natural performers.
 
Former NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle champion Matt Smith needed only a few
laps on Don Schumacher Racing’s Suzuki to re-acclimate himself with the
style of bike he drove when he first learned how to race.
 
Nine runs, seven in testing, and he is the provisional low qualifier at
the NHRA ACDelco Gatornationals. This event in Gainesville, Fla., is
traditionally the season-opener for the 17-race Pro Stock Motorcycles.
 
On the first run in qualifying for the new season he went immediately
to the top. The second backed up his claim for the provisional pole
effort.
 
“I had to change my riding style,” Smith admitted. “I haven’t rode the
Buell any this season. I’m trying to stay away from it and focus in on
the Suzuki.”
 
The separation isn’t absolute considering Smith’s fiancée Angie McBride
rides his former Buell and will have Nitro Fish backing for at least
four events in the early part of 2009. He also builds the engines for
her.