Dixon Is Revved Up About Raceway

Larry Dixon lives three miles from the drag strip at Indianapolis Raceway Park, and passes it nearly every time he gets on the freeway.

He may not get “psyched out” about the place, but acknowledges he has plenty of time to reflect on the site of the 49th Mac Tools U.S.Nationals, which begin with qualifying today as the National Hot Rod Assn. starts its biggest weekend of the year.

On those drives into town, the defending top-fuel champion recalls his youth, when his father, Larry Sr., would take the family from their Van Nuys home to compete at Indy. He recalls being a crew member on Don “the Snake” Prudhomme’s winning funny car in 1989, the racing legend’s final year. And he recalls his own victories there in 1995, as a rookie, and again in 2001.

“You really have time to think about it, and when you think about it, it gives you goose bumps,” Dixon said. “It’s pretty cool.”

With the season winding down, the purse is doubled and the points are valuable, but all that is secondary. Winning at Indy is as important as winning a championship.

“You talk to Snake and [Don] Garlits, their list of accomplishments is championships and how many times they won Indy,” Dixon said. “I don’t think a career is complete without either one on your resume. And being around [team owner] Prudhomme and [crew chief] Dick LaHaie, who have been around a long time, you talk to them for 30 seconds and you can tell how much the race means to them.”

Dixon’s father never advanced beyond the semifinals.

“When I was a kid, my dad had a top-fuel dragster he raced as a hobby on weekends,” Dixon said. “We never toured, but we always went back to Indy. That was the one absolute race we went to. Everyone in the country felt the same way. Everybody back East didn’t tour, but they went to Indy because if you showed well there, you knew you were something.

“I was part of the crew with Snake when he won in 1989. I was doing the short blocks, working under the motor, and to this day, that’s one of the biggest wins of my life.”

Dixon, though, has plenty of victories in the car, not under it. He’s won eight times this season, three times in the last four outings and four of the last six. With 33 victories in his driving career, the 36-year-old has only Joe Amato (52), Garlits (35) and Kenny Bernstein (35) ahead of him in the class.

Shirley Muldowney, an 18-time winner in what she says is her final Indy appearance, Garlits and Scott Kalitta, who has won 14 races, are among those semi-retired drivers trying to steal the show. Garlits has won the event eight times.

“This is the one race that matters to everybody,” Dixon said.

Over the final seven races, Dixon has a chance to exceed his own record-setting 2002 season, when he set or tied records with 14 final-round appearances, and nine victories. He has been to 11 finals and won eight times, and at Las Vegas set a national speed record, 332.75 mph.

He has won 33 of his last 37 rounds, and only twice in the last 10 events has he failed to reach the final round. With a 271-point lead over Doug Kalitta, Dixon is on the verge of winning a second consecutive top-fuel title.

To surpass Dixon , Kalitta must basically advance 14 rounds further than Dixon over the last seven races, though Kalitta has outscored Dixon in only four of 16 races this season -- accounting for only a nine-round surplus.

“It’s not an insurmountable lead,” said the overly cautious Dixon. “If we keep up the same pace we’ve set the first two-thirds of the year, we’ll be OK. If we don’t, we’re not going to win -- and to be honest, we wouldn’t deserve to win.”

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Tony Pedregon’s run to succeed his team owner, John Force, as funny car champion is experiencing some serious tire shake. Pedregon has slipped in the last four events, and his lead over Whit Bazemore has shrunk from 143 points to 61. Force is third, 235 points behind.

“John is a bigger threat than Bazemore,” Pedregon said. “I think [Force’s] team is that good. Toe to toe, I think we can outdo Bazemore; we can outdo his car, I can out-drive him. We can do everything better than he can. But John is a tough old fight. He poses more of a problem.”

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Bellflower’s Gary Densham, the third driver for Team Force, won two weeks ago at Brainerd, Minn., and has since announced he would be re-forming his own team for 2004. He ran his own team for 29 years before joining Force, under whose auspices he has earned all six of his victories.

Open Wheel

Sam Hornish Jr. has won more Indy Racing League events than any other driver, and has won the last two championships. Selected to succeed the retiring Gil de Ferran for owner Roger Penske, he figures he will be in position to win his first Indy 500, and Penske’s 14th.

“There’s no excuses now,” Hornish said. “If I can’t win the Indianapolis 500 [with Penske], I am probably not going to do it.”

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Newman-Haas Racing, a CART holdout against fielding an IRL team, has scheduled testing for Bruno Junqueira with the idea of competing in the 2004 Indy 500.

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Townsend Bell, formerly of Costa Mesa, became the first U.S. driver on the podium in an FIA International Formula 3000 race by finishing third in Hungary. Bell will get an F1 test next month at Monza with BAR-Honda.

Winston Cup

Kurt Busch’s on- and off-track altercations with Jimmy Spencer have not gone unnoticed by sponsor Rubbermaid. Company representatives have insisted that Busch undergo a “mentoring program” to improve his behavior.

“I know very well that words are cheap and that my sincerity and commitment will be judged by what I do in the weeks and months ahead,” Busch said. “I am going to work very hard with the help of my sponsors, [team owner Jack] Roush and my teammates to live up to the promises I am making today.”

Last Laps

The Featherlite Southwest Series returns to Irwindale Speedway on Saturday, along with super-late models and super trucks. On Sunday at 4 p.m., Irwindale plays host to the first D1 Grand Prix drifting competition in America. With success, the Japanese series -- it’s power sliding for points -- may begin competing in the U.S.

Richard Griffin and Damion Gardner, first and second respectively in the Sprint Car Racing Assn. standings, bring their rivalry to Ventura Raceway on Saturday, and Perris Auto Speedway on Sunday.... Todd Hunsaker of Chino Hills, defending Ford Focus midget champion, heads Perris’ six-division field Saturday.

The Parnelli Jones exhibit at the Wally Parks NHRA Museum has been extended through Oct. 19.... The 22nd annual FMF Trans-Cal Motocross Nationals begin Sunday morning at Glen Helen Raceway.

Shav Glick is on vacation.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

This Week

NASCAR WINSTON CUP

Southern 500

When: Today, qualifying (Speed Channel, noon); Sunday, race (Ch. 4, 10 a.m.)

Where: Darlington (S.C.) Raceway (egg-shaped oval, 1.366 miles, 25 degrees banking in Turns 1-2, 23 degrees in Turns 3-4).

Race Distance: 501.3 miles, 367 laps.

2002 winner: Jeff Gordon.

Next race: Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400, Sept. 6, Richmond, Va.

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BUSCH SERIES

South Carolina 200R

When: Today, qualifying (Speed Channel, 10:30 a.m.); Saturday, race (Ch. 4, 11 a.m.)

Where: Darlington Raceway.

Race distance: 200.8 miles, 147 laps.

2002 winner: Jeff Burton.

Next race: Funai 250, Sept. 5, Richmond, Va.

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CART

Grand Prix of Denver

When: Saturday, qualifying (Speed Channel, 12:30 p.m.); Sunday, race (Speed Channel, 6:30 p.m.)

Track: Streets of Denver (temporary road course, 1.65 miles, 9 turns).

Race distance: Two hours.

2002 winner: Bruno Junqueira.

Next race: Grand Prix Americas, Sept. 28, Miami.

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NHRA

Mac Tools U.S. Nationals

When: Today, qualifying, 3:30 p.m.; Saturday, qualifying, 9:45 a.m. (ESPN2, 4:30 p.m.); Sunday, eliminations, 10 a.m. (ESPN2, 6:30 p.m.); Monday, final eliminations (ESPN, 11 a.m.)

Where: Indianapolis Raceway Park.

2002 winners: Tony Schumacher, John Force and Jeg Coughlin.

Next event: Lucas Oil Nationals, Sept. 14, Reading, Pa.