DRAG RACING : Rookie Dixon Justifies Role With Upset

Rookie top fuel driver Larry Dixon, tabbed by Don Prudhomme as his replacement after Prudhomme retired last year, upset two-time National Hot Rod Assn. champion Scott Kalitta on Saturday in the finals of the 11th Budweiser Classic and collected $100,000.

If the 29-year-old driver from North Hills can repeat his win in today’s Winston Select Final at the Pomona Raceway, he would receive a $50,000 bonus, in addition to the first prize of $40,000.

Kalitta, who clinched his second consecutive Winston top fuel championship two weeks ago, left the line too soon against Dixon and when the red light flashed, the race was over. Dixon still ran an impressive 4.76 seconds for the estimated 30,000 spectators.

“I saw him go red,” said Dixon, “but by the time you see it, you’ve already gone 300 feet down the track before the message gets to your brain. I kept it going all the way. After all, it was a $100,000 race and the fans deserved it.

Asked how much of the $100,000 he could expect from car owner Prudhomme, Dixon grinned and said, “I don’t care, I’ve got the Budweiser jacket and the trophy.”

Said Prudhomme: “That’s the way all the guys are when they’re young. All they want is trophies. I was that way once, but I like the money now.

“But I’m really proud of Larry. When I named him to drive for me last year, there were a lot of skeptics who thought I should have a big-name driver instead of a kid who had never raced professionally. I think my choice has really been justified now.”

Dixon may get to wear the Budweiser jacket only for a day. He is sponsored by Miller, a competitor.

Eddie Hill, only a few months shy of his 60th birthday, once again displayed a knack for the Pomona strip. His 4.729-second run, at 304.36 m.p.h., gave him the No. 1 starting position for today’s eliminations. It was Hill’s second top speed this year--the last coming in the Winternationals, also at Pomona, in the first race of the season.

In the first round of the Budweiser Classic, Hill--who has been driving with a broken toe after walking into a door at his hotel last Friday--lost to Kalitta by one-thousandth of a second.

John Force of Yorba Linda, who clinched a record fifth funny car championship earlier this season, came through on his final run to take today’s No. 1 qualifying berth at 5.025 seconds. He set a track record of 304.77 m.p.h. on Friday.

Warren Johnson showed no signs of complacency after winning his third pro stock championship before coming to Pomona. In Saturday’s final qualifying session, he set a track record of 6.997 seconds elapsed time, after setting a speed record of 197.67 m.p.h. in the morning. They bettered his own year-old marks of 7.041 and 196.89.

It was the 14th time the driver from Duluth, Ga., has qualified No. 1 in 19 events in his Olds Supreme Cutlass, which is being retired with all the other Oldsmobiles after today’s races. Johnson, 52, will drive a Pontiac Firebird next season.

“That was the run we’ve been looking for all weekend,” Johnson said. “It was the first successful run we made from the starting line to 330 feet. We bogged the motor badly on the first three runs.”

Another Georgian, John Myers of Americus, clinched the pro motorcycle championship by merely qualifying for today’s eliminations. Myers, who rode a Suzuki, set a track record with a run of 182.29 m.p.h. in 7.496 seconds to head the quickest 16-bike field in NHRA history. All 16 rode Suzukis.