WITH TOPEKA WIN DIXON MOVES CLOSER TO THAT TOP SPOT IN TOP FUEL
With win at Topeka NHRA Full Throttle Top Fuel driver, Larry Dixon, moved to fourth place in the 2009 points standings heading to this week's stop in Chicago.
Courtesy: NHRA Media Relations
On a day that saw track temperatures in the 100’s and cars struggling to find enough traction to make a full pass, Top Fuel driver Larry Dixon did what seems to be the impossible when he drove to his second win of the season at the 21st annual O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals in Heartland Park Topeka. But perhaps even more impressive then his skills on the track was the jump in the points the win gave Dixon, propelling him from sixth to fourth in the point standings, just 141 points outside of first-place driver Tony Schumacher. With the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing regular season officially at the halfway point and just nine events left before the cutoff point for the Top 10 and advancement into the Countdown to the Championship Countdown to 1 playoffs, the jump couldn’t have come at a better time. “The car’s been great all year,” said the former two-time world champion. “I just wanted to come to (
SCHUMACER IN ‘DRIVERS SEAT’ HEADING TO HOME TRACK ROUTE 66 RACEWAY: With one-third of the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing season complete and only nine races left before the Countdown to 1 playoffs, no driver is more comfortable heading into this weekend’s United Association Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill. than current Top Fuel points leader Tony Schumacher. Schumacher, a native of the
TOP FUEL DRIVER J.R. TODD TO RETURN TO COMPETITION IN MACH 1 GLOBAL DRAGSTER FOR
5: That’s the number of final rounds that both Funny Car and Pro Stock points leaders Ron Capps and Jeg Coughlin have been to this season—the most of any driver in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. HE SAID, SHE SAID
GETTING HIS ‘MOJO’ BACK: Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson after grabbing his first win in almost two years at the O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals in Topeka: “We’ve had the car, and I just haven’t done my job very good the last year or so. I knew a win would come, but I’ve been very, very frustrated with myself, to be honest. I hadn’t done my job really well for the last year, but I’ve really been owrking on it. I feel like I’ve got my mojo back, and we’re going to do well the rest of the year.”INSIDE THE NUMBERS
DID YOU KNOW…
…that in the past four races Funny Car driver Ashley Force Hood has collected three No. 1 qualifiers, been to two final rounds, and has had the top speed at three of the foure events. Force Hood will be a strong contender to grab her second Wally of the season heading into this week’s United Association Route 66 NHRA Nationals.