Wed, 30 Sep 2009, 11:32 PM Al-Anabi Racing Team/Larry Dixon Memphis Preview

Courtesy of Rob Goodman

MILLINGTON, Tenn. -- The Al-Anabi Racing Team and His Highness Sheik Khalid Al Thani 22nd Annual O'Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals presented by Pennzoil Memphis Motorsports Park; Memphis, Tenn.

Larry Dixon, Top Fuel Dragster
Larry Dixon is second in the NHRA Full Throttle Top Fuel point standings; he trails first place by 27 points after the second race in the Countdown to 1 NHRA Playoffs. Dixon finished second in the countdown last year and is making his third countdown appearance in as many years.

Dixon has advanced to at least the semifinals in 11 of the 20 races this season. He has won five of the eight races in which he has advanced to the final round of eliminations; he has advanced to the finals at four of the last five events.

Dixon was the No. 1 qualifier at last week's event in Ennis, Texas; he defeated Mike Bowers, Brandon Bernstein and Shawn Langdon before losing to Tony Schumacher in the final round of eliminations. Dixon won races earlier this season in Gainesville, Fla., Topeka, Kan., Englishtown, N.J., Norwalk, Ohio and Reading, Pa.

One year ago at Memphis, Dixon was the No. 8 qualifier; he defeated Antron Brown before losing to Brandon Bernstein in the second round of eliminations. Dixon won races at Memphis in 2002 and '04, and he has been to the finals six times in his Memphis career.

Dixon won the NHRA Top Fuel championship in 2002 and '03. He is currently third on the NHRA's all-time Top Fuel winner's list with 48 victories. Joe Amato is in second place with 52 wins; Tony Schumacher tops the list with 61 wins. Dixon is tied with Jeg Coughlin for ninth place on the NHRA's all-time career victories list; they trail eighth-place Don Prudhomme by one win. Dixon was the 1995 NHRA Rookie of the Year.

Dixon prior to Memphis:
"We started the countdown in second place 30 points out. Two races in, our Al-Anabi team is in second place but just 27 points out. We tested our car after Charlotte and went to another final so this team continues to do well out of test sessions. We're holding our ground in points; the car has shown it can definitely compete at the highest level. We have two poles and a final round in two races of the playoffs so we are positioning ourselves nicely for a run to the championship. We have 16 rounds left in the playoffs, and if we can be in all 16 of them, I like our chances of winning a championship for Sheik Khalid and the people of Qatar. That's how we're approaching the rest of the season.

"I've been in a lot of final rounds at Memphis. At one point, I had like five in a row, (2000 - '04) but I've only won twice there so I'd like to get that average worked out a little better. I enjoy going to Memphis; between Alan (Johnson) and me, we've won a lot of rounds there and been to a lot of finals so it's a place where we feel good about competing. I'm looking forward to going back there again this weekend."

For additional information on Alan Johnson and Larry Dixon, please visit http://www.alanjohnsonracing.com to view their full bios.

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