Miller Time at Budweiser Shootout

Budweiser put up the money, but Miller took it home Saturday when Larry Dixon, in Don Prudhomme’s Miller Lite top fuel dragster, defeated Doug Kalitta in the finals of the 17th Budweiser Shootout at Pomona Raceway.

It was worth $100,000 to Dixon, who won as a rookie in 1995. He also got a ride on a Budweiser beer wagon pulled by its famous Clydesdales to the cheers of an estimated 38,000 fans.

The final round was a classic side-by-side run for the quarter-mile as Dixon’s 4.514-second elapsed time edged Kalitta’s 4.557. The difference was Dixon’s reaction time off the starting line, .468 of a second to Kalitta’s .508.

Dixon was consistent all day in the Dick LaHaie-crewed top fueler, defeating Tony Schumacher with a 4.555 run and Mike Dunn with a 4.527 before facing Kalitta.

“This was the biggest single payday of the season and if you don’t win, you don’t get much,” said an elated Dixon, who grew up in the San Fernando Valley but now lives in Indianapolis. “It’s also the last weekend of the year, so there’s no use holding anything back.”

Kalitta, from Ypsilanti, Mich., earned $15,000 as runner-up.

After winning, Dixon set his sights on the National Hot Rod Assn. championship, which winds up today with the Auto Club NHRA Finals.

Kenny Bernstein, the No. 1 qualifier in 4.498 seconds at 327.59 mph, needs to win two rounds today to capture his sixth NHRA crown and a $200,000 bonus from series sponsor Winston. He has won four in a funny car and one in top fuel.

“Hopefully, we can do it again tomorrow,” said Dixon, a second-generation driver whose father, Larry Sr., won the 1970 Winternationals at Pomona. “Right now, I wish we had some of the luck Darrell Russell has against Kenny.”

Russell upset Bernstein in the first round, although perhaps it shouldn’t be called an upset because it was the fourth win in five starts for Joe Amato’s rookie driver against Bernstein this year.

“I just flat out got beat,” said Bernstein, whose 4.588-second run was not quite enough against Russell’s 4.580.

Don “Big Daddy” Garlits disappointed both himself and fans when his top fuel dragster failed to qualify for today’s eliminations.

Garlits, 69, who will be honored as drag racing’s all-time No. 1 driver in today’s prerace ceremonies, had to back off in his final run when the Gary Clapshaw-owned Spirit of Las Vegas began to drift toward the center line.

“It shook me about halfway,” Garlits said. “We’re trying to figure out why. I backpedaled it, but the front wheels came up a little and it moved toward the center line.”

In Garlits’ four previous qualifying attempts, the tires smoked off the starting line.

“We were a little bit too aggressive,” he said. “The track wouldn’t hold our combinations. We should have been a little more conservative. It was very disappointing.”

Whit Bazemore ran 4.741 in his Firebird funny car to capture his ninth No. 1 position in the last 12 events. Eleven-time champion John Force, who has already clinched the 2001 championship, was second at 4.788.

In pro stock, Warren Johnson could have clinched his sixth championship had he qualified fourth or better in his Pontiac Grand Am, but he slipped to fifth. This left the door open for No. 1 qualifier Jim Yates, but Johnson can win by advancing to the second round today. Johnson missed clinching by .001 of a second.

In what NHRA officials said was the tightest field in pro stock history, only .029 of a second separated Yates’ 6.80 run, also in a Grand Am, and No. 16 Mark Pawuk’s 6.879.

Angelle Savoie moved closer to her second consecutive pro stock motorcycle crown by taking the No. 1 position with a 7.186 on her Team Winston Suzuki.

John Lingenfelter set a record that may never be broken, because the pro stock truck class is being eliminated. The Decauter, Ind., driver took his GMC Somona to the finish line at 182.75 mph, a national record, and also set a track record of 7.399 seconds to take the No. 1 qualifying berth.

The trucks will run next season in Federal Mogul competition eliminator.