Dixon finishes qualifying No. 11 position

Memphis TN (8/19/06) -- Two-time NHRA Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon drove his Miller Lite dragster to the No. 11 qualifying position Saturday at Memphis Motorsports Park after recording a qualifying-best elapsed time of 4.685-seconds.

After racing to the third qualifying spot last weekend at Brainerd, Minn., the 38-time NHRA winner drove his Miller Lite/Lucas Oil dragster to a pass of 4.685 seconds at 306.53 mph late Friday evening to position his Don Prudhomme-owned rail ninth in the 16-car order. Professional race teams received just one qualifying attempt on Friday at the 19th annual O’Reilly Mid-South Nationals following a long afternoon downpour.

Dixon used a tune-up from crew chiefs Don Bender and Todd Smith to race the Miller Lite rail to a performance of 4.724 at 310.20 on Saturday’s first qualifying attempt. It was the fourth quickest pass of the round. On his final qualifying effort of the weekend, Dixon powered his blue dragster to a run of 4.693 at 309.91 to finish 11th in the Top Fuel field. It’s only the third time in his veteran driving career that Dixon will start from the No. 11 position. Dixon qualified second at the Memphis race last August where he posted a semifinal finish. He ! has a 19-4 record at Memphis Motorsports Park over the past six seasons, including two victories (2002, ’04).

“The first round will be hot just like our first run today,” Bender said. “We were soft on that pass and should be able to improve in the heat. There are a lot of changes that need to be made with the very hot to cooler conditions like we see here. You really need to pay attention to the notes and changing conditions.”

The 1995 NHRA Rookie of the Year will match-up against No. 6 qualifier Troy Buff in the first round of Top Fuel eliminations, which begin at 3 p.m. (CT) on Sunday afternoon at Memphis Motorsports Park. Dixon, a two-time Memphis winner, has never faced the rookie Top Fuel driver in eliminations.