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Larry Dixon – Top Fuel Driver
Residence: Avon, Ind.
Hometown: Van Nuys, Calif.
Date of birth: Oct. 23, 1966
Crew chief: Jason McCulloch
Al-Anabi Racing Owner: HH Sheikh Khalid Al-Thani
Al-Anabi Racing Team Manager: Alan Johnson
Alan Johnson Racing Owner: Alan Johnson
2010 wins/final rounds: 8/8 (1.000)
Career wins/final rounds: 56/100 (.560)
2010 No. 1 Qualifiers: 5
Career No. 1 qualifiers: 45
Best points finish: 1st (2002, ‘03)
Countdown to the championship appearances: 4
First start: Pomona 1, 1995
Career-best elapsed time for quarter mile: 4.481 seconds for quarter mile (Pomona 1, 2005)
Career-best elapsed time to 1000 feet: 3.772 seconds (Houston 2010)
Career-best speed for quarter mile: 332.75 mph for quarter mile (Las Vegas 1, 2003)
Career-best speed to 1000 feet: 321.58 mph (Pomona 2, 2009)
PERSONAL INFORMATION
- Wife: Allison
- Children: Donovan, Darien, Alanna
- Height/weight: 5’10”, 160 lbs.
- Hobbies: Bicycling and bracket racing
- Notable: This second-generation driver debuted with Al-Anabi Racing in 2009 after spending 20 seasons with Don Prudhomme Racing.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
- 2009: Finished second by two points in the NHRA Full Throttle Top Fuel Point standings in first Season as driver of the Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel Dragster; won five races and was the #1 qualifier a career-high nine times in posting his 15th consecutive top-10 points finish. He finished the season third on the NHRA's all-time Top Fuel winner's list with 48 victories and tied for ninth on the NHRA's all-time career victories list trailing eighth-place Don prudhomme by one win.
- 2008: Finished second in the NHRA POWERade Countdown to the Championship for his 14th consecutive top-10 finish; with won two races in six final-round appearances; completed 20th season driving for Prudhomme Racing.
- 2007: Finished fourth in first NHRA POWERade Countdown to the Championship berth with three wins in six final-round appearances; won one race in two final-round appearances in the playoffs; with 40th career win, moved into third place on the NHRA all-time Top Fuel wins list; passing Kenny Bernstein.
- 2006: Finished seventh in NHRA POWERade Top Fuel point standings for his 12th consecutive top-10 finish; advanced to his only final round of the season on Father’s Day (Englishtown), but lost on that day for the first time in five consecutive season.
- 2005: Finished second in NHRA POWERade Top Fuel point standings; won on Father’s Day for the fifth-consecutive time; moved into fourth place on the NHRA all-time wins list with 36th victory passing Don Garlits; won two more races including Mac Tools U.S. Nationals for third time.
- 2004: Finished sixth in the NHRA POWERade Top Fuel point standings with three victories on the season, won 35th career race tying Don Garlits for third on NHRA all-time Top Fuel wins list.
- 2003: Earned second consecutive NHRA POWERade Top Fuel with eight victories in 13 final rounds; became only fourth driver in NHRA history to sweep Western swing; recorded career-best speed, 332.75 mph for quarter mile (Las Vegas 1, 2003).
- 2002: Earned first NHRA POWERade Top Fuel championship; tied single-season Top Fuel record for victories with nine; named Driver of the Year for the second quarter; led point standings all season.
- 2001: Finished second in NHRA Winston Top Fuel point standings winning six events in nine final-round appearances; won the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals for the second time in his career; won the lucrative $100,000 Budweiser Shootout bonus event.
- 2000: Finished third in NHRA Winston Top Fuel point standings winning two races; involved in a spectacular crash in the final round at Memphis, Tenn., which resulted in a disqualification.
- 1999: Finished eighth in the NHRA WinstonTop Fuel point standings winning two
races; became first driver to run quicker than 4.5 seconds recording a 4.486-second pass at the season’s first Houston race.
- 1998: Finished seventh in the NHRA Winston Top Fuel point standings winning the Winternationals at Pomona, joined his father, Larry Sr. (1970), on the event’s Top Fuel winner’s list of the event.
- 1997: Finished seventh in the NHRA Winston Top Fuel point standings winning one race; runner-up in Budweiser Shootout from the No. 8 qualifying spot
- 1996: Finished fourth in NHRA Winston Top Fuel point standings; qualified for all
19 national events in second professional season.
- 1995: Finished third in NHRA Winston Top Fuel point standings in rookie season; named NHRA Rookie of the Year; became third rookie to win $100,000 Budweiser Shootout; became first Top Fuel rookie to win at Indianapolis since Gary Beck in 1972; set NHRA elapsed time record at Englishtown
- 1994: Earned NHRA Top Fuel license with 4.76-second pass at Gainesville
CAREER STATISTICS
| 2009 |
24 |
2 |
5 |
4 |
4 |
7 |
3 |
9 |
1 |
47-18 |
| 2008 |
24 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
4 |
8 |
6 |
4 |
0 |
36-22 |
| 2007 |
23 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
6 |
7 |
1 |
0 |
35-20 |
| 2006 |
23 |
7 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
9 |
8 |
0 |
1 |
20-22 |
| 2005 |
23 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
8 |
5 |
3 |
0 |
38-20 |
| 2004 |
23 |
1 |
8 |
5 |
3 |
6 |
1 |
4 |
0 |
26-20 |
| 2003 |
23 |
1 |
8 |
5 |
3 |
6 |
1 |
4 |
0 |
59-15 |
| 2002 |
23 |
1 |
9 |
5 |
1 |
4 |
3 |
7 |
1 |
57-13 |
| 2001 |
24 |
2 |
6 |
3 |
9 |
6 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
57-18 |
| 2000 |
23 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
7 |
8 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
42-21 |
| 1999 |
22 |
8 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
10 |
3 |
1 |
23-19 |
| 1998 |
22 |
7 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
4 |
11 |
1 |
1 |
19-20 |
| 1997 |
22 |
7 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
7 |
10 |
1 |
1 |
18-21 |
| 1996 |
19 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
7 |
4 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
28-18 |
| 1995 |
19 |
3 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
32-15 |
| Total |
336 |
|
48 |
44 |
60 |
85 |
93 |
40 |
7 |
537-282 |
PLAYOFF STATISTICS
| Year |
No. Races |
Won |
R/U |
Semi. |
Qtr. |
1st Rd. |
No. 1 Qfy. |
DNQ |
Round W-L |
| 2009 |
6 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
12-6 |
| 2008 |
6 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
9-6 |
| 2007 |
6 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
10-5 |
| Total |
18 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
9 |
3 |
7 |
0 |
31-16 |
CAREER FINAL-ROUND RECORD
2010:
Pomona1 winner (Doug Kalitta)
Houston winner (Antron Brown)
Las Vegas1 winner (Cory McClenathan)
Atlanta winner (Brandon Bernstein)
Joliet winner (Tony Schumacher)
Englishtown winner (Antron Brown)
Norwalk winner (Antron Brown)
Sonoma winner (Tony Schumacher)
2009:
Gainesville winner (Corey McClenathan)
Topeka winner (Clay Millican)
Englishtown winner (Antron Brown)
Norwalk winner (Brandon Bernstein)
Brainerd runner up (Morgan Lucas)
Reading winner (Spenser Massey)
Indianapolis runner-up (Tony Schumacher)
Dallas runner-up (Tony Schumacher)
Las Vegas runner up (Spencer Massey)
2008:
Phoenix winner (Dave Grubnic)
Houston runner-up (Antron Brown)
Bristol runner-up (Tony Schumacher)
Topeka runner-up (Hillary Will)
Reading runner-up (Tony Schumacher)
Pomona 2 winner (Rod Fuller)
2007:
Gainesville runner-up (Tony Schumacher)
Chicago winner (Rod Fuller)
Englishtown winner (Doug Herbert)
Brainerd runner-up (Brandon Bernstein)
Indianapolis runner-up (Tony Schumacher)
Dallas winner (Bob Vandergriff)
2006:
Englishtown runner-up (Rod Fuller)
2005:
Gainesville runner-up (Doug Kalitta)
Las Vegas 1 winner (Doug Kalitta)
Topeka runner-up (Dave Grubnic)
Englishtown winner (Dave Grubnic)
Brainerd runner-up (Doug Kalitta)
Indianapolis winner (Tony Schumacher)
Reading runner-up (Tony Schumacher)
2004:
Las Vegas 1 runner-up (Tony Schumacher)
Englishtown winner (Cory McClenathan)
Memphis winner (Scott Kalitta)
2003:
Pomona 1 winner (Cory McClenathan)
Phoenix runner-up (Brandon Bernstein)
Las Vegas 1 winner (Doug Kalitta)
Atlanta winner (Darrell Russell)
Englishtown runner-up (Doug Kalitta)
Topeka winner (Doug Kalitta)
Chicago 1 runner-up (Tony Schumacher)
Columbus winner (Darrell Russell)
Denver winner (Doug Kalitta)
Seattle winner (Doug Kalitta)
Sonoma winner (David Baca)
Memphis runner-up (Tony Schumacher)
Chicago 2 runner-up (Kenny Bernstein)
2002:
Pomona 1 winner (Kenny Bernstein)
Phoenix runner-up (Tony Schumacher)
Gainesville winner (Kenny Bernstein)
Las Vegas 1 winner (Cory McClenathan)
Bristol winner (Darrell Russell)
Atlanta winner (Doug Herbert)
Englishtown runner-up (Kenny Bernstein)
Topeka runner-up (Darrell Russell)
Chicago 1 winner (Kenny Bernstein)
Columbus winner (Doug Herbert)
Brainerd runner-up (Kenny Bernstein)
Indianapolis runner-up (Tony Schumacher)
Memphis winner (Tony Schumacher)
Las Vegas 2 winner (Tony Schumacher)
2001:
Houston runner-up (Mike Dunn)
Gainesville winner (Gary Scelzi)
Topeka runner-up (Kenny Bernstein)
Columbus winner (Darrell Russell)
Denver winner (Doug Kalitta)
Brainerd winner (Darrell Russell)
Indianapolis winner (Mike Dunn)
Memphis runner-up (Kenny Bernstein)
Dallas winner (Doug Kalitta)
2000:
Houston winner (Tony Schumacher)
Richmond winner (Kenny Bernstein)
Dallas 1 runner-up (Gary Scelzi)
Chicago runner-up (Gary Scelzi)
Sonoma runner-up (Doug Kalitta)
Memphis runner-up (Gary Scelzi)
1999:
Pomona 1 runner-up (Mike Dunn)
Richmond runner-up (Cory McClenathan)
Brainerd winner (Eddie Hill)
Houston 2 winner (Gary Scelzi)
1998:
Pomona 1 winner (Jim Head)
Gainesville runner-up (Kenny Bernstein)
1997:
Dallas 1 runner-up (Joe Amato)
Memphis runner-up (Jim Head)
Houston 2 runner-up (Gary Scelzi)
1996:
Atlanta winner (Mike Dunn)
Englishtown runner-up (Joe Amato)
Columbus runner-up (Cory McClenathan)
1995:
Phoenix winner (Shelly Anderson)
Gainesville winner (Blaine Johnson)
Englishtown winner (Scott Kalitta)
Indianapolis winner (Bob Vandergriff Jr.)
Reading runner-up (Scott Kalitta)
Pomona 2 runner-up (Blaine Johnson)
CAREER NO. 1 QUALIFIER RECORD
2010: Houston, Atlanta, Joliet, Norwalk, Sonoma
2009: Phoenix, Gainesville, Norwalk, Seattle, Charlotte, Dallas, Memphis, Richmond, Las Vegas
2008: Topeka, Indianapolis, Charlotte, Dallas
2007: Gainesville
2005: Columbus, Englishtown, Seattle
2003: Topeka, Denver, Seattle, Brainerd
2002: Phoenix, Gainesville, Las Vegas 1, Bristol, Englishtown, Topeka, Sonoma
2001: Brainerd, Memphis, Dallas, Las Vegas 2
2000: Englishtown
1999: Gainesville, Houston 1, Dallas 1
1998: Indianapolis
1997: Pomona 2
1995: Englishtown, Richmond