That was then, this is now

National Dragster, Jan 28, 2005 by Burgess, Phil

With a troubled 2004 behind him, two-time NHRA POWERade Top Fuel champ Larry Dixon is quietly ready to make some noise in 2005

After ruling the Top Fuel class for two years, Larry Dixon and the Miller Lite team had to relinquish their hard-won crown last year to Tony Schumacher. Having scored nine times in 2002 and eight times in 2003, Dixon made just two trips to the winner's circle last year and finished sixth in the POWERade standings, his lowest finish since 1999. There were high points for Don Prudhomme's famed protégé: His 35th career win tied him with Top Fuel icon and lifelong hero Don Garlits, and longtime buddy and former roommate Steve Johnson finally scored his first win in Pro Stock Motorcycle. Johnson's breakthrough came in Madison, which, sadly, also was the event at which fellow Top Fuel racer Darrell Russell lost his life, and Dixon and his wife Allison jumped head-first into the fray by organizing the wildly successful Darrell Russell Memorial Auction at the season-ending Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals.

National DRAGSTER Editor Phil Burgess caught up with Dixon, who shared his thoughts about the emotional ride that was last season and the year ahead.

Q: How tough was it to relinquish your crown?

A: Honestly, it would have been a lot harder if we had lost it after being in a tight battle. We had trouble just qualifying in the top half of the field, so it's not like we were capable contenders for the championship and failed to win it. Tony [Schumacher] won 10 races, so it's hard to critique how he won the championship.

Q: Do you think you can get it back this season?

A: I'm not one to talk; I let the car do the talking. If we've got it, we'll go out and do it. You don't have to talk about it, but I'm really excited about this season. We just fine-tuned our operation based on the success that we had during the final part of last season.

Q: Was 2004 an aberration? Your team looked uncharacteristically behind from the beginning.

A: We knew we were behind at the end of 2003, so no one was surprised when we started out 2004 the way we did. We kind of lost our momentum after we won in Sonoma in 2003, so the writing was on the wall that we needed to do something to run with the top two or three cars. We made those changes, but it was a bigger learning curve than we anticipated.

We started the year with a six-disc clutch, then two races in we went to the setback blower. We started sorting things out and won in Englishtown. By Columbus, we had a pretty good car, but then NHRA implemented a lot of rule changes a few weeks later. We ran five different tires over the year, and, of course, there were nitro-percentage and wing rules that changed. We won in Memphis [in late August], and we felt we had a car that could have won in Indy and Dallas. Our last run of the year in Pomona was our quickest of the season, so you can see why we're optimistic.

Q: You didn't have a bad season by any means, but after winning two straight titles, your whole team was under a microscope. How did you deal with that?

A: I don't sit back and read articles about how great I am or how bad we are, so it didn't really affect me. The only things I look at are the time slips and the ladder sheets; that's what really tells you where you rate. Sixth place isn't where anyone starts out wanting to finish, but I'm still doing something that I wanted to do since I was a kid: drive a Top Fuel car. After that, sixth place all of a sudden doesn't - look so bad.

I still think the same way I did before I won a championship: I want to be able to roll into a race and know that I have the opportunity to win. Even if you don't win it, at least you went in there knowing that you could win it. After that, things will run their course. If you [have] a contending car week in and week out and qualify well, you'll have a car capable of winning the championship.

Q: Qualifying well seemed to be one of your problems last year.

A: We qualified in the top five only five times all year, so at 18 races we didn't have one of the five best cars. To still win a few times is a lot of credit to our team.

Q: What did you use to motivate yourself during those lean times?

A: As I drove to the next race, I always thought that the next event could be the one where it all turned around.

Q: Along with your team's struggles, Prudhomme's Funny Car teams also had forgettable seasons. How did "the Snake" deal with all of that?

A: I've been with Prudhonime since May 1988, as a crewmember, so this is going to be my 17th year with "Snake." AU of those years before I drove, I was never there because I thought someday he'd let me drive - I thought he'd never get out of the car - it was because of his attitude. He always wanted to go to the starting line as well prepared as you could be: testing, parts, people, everything. When we've had our highs and lows, I never had to worry about his desire to bring a competitive car to the starting line. I know that he's even more passionately motivated about it than I am. I know he'll never stop trying to do what it takes to win. What more could I ask for?