In Top Fuel, veteran driver Larry Dixon took the win over Cory McClenathan, giving Dixon’s brand-new Al-Anabi Racing team, co-owned by a sheik from Quatar and longtime crew chief Alan Johnson, its first win in just their third race.
Dixon’s team is backed by Quatar Sheik Khalid Bin Hamad Al-Thani, and the team name, Al-Anabi, translates loosely to “go maroon,” which is the predominant color of the flag of Quatar.
“It’s hard to win these races, especially with a brand-new team,” said Dixon, who has now won the Gatornationals four times, though not since 2002 despite twice reaching the final since then, in 2005 and 2007. “They can have all the notes they want from last season, but you don’t have the same parts they had last season. They don’t have the same blowers or the same clutch discs, and anyone who runs a fuel car will tell you that each of those parts has its own personality and you have to learn that personality and understand it, and they’ve been able to do that.
“I know how hard it is to make these cars go down the track, but they make it look easy. It’s an a amazing group. Alan Johnson is a genius, and Jason McCulloch is working right underneath him, and I’m happy for him to get his first win. I’m also happy for sheik [team co-owner Sheikh Khalid Bin Hamad Al Thani] and to be able to get his first win the third race out. I’m honored to be driving the car.”
Dixon, in his first season driving for Alan Johnson and the new Alan Johnson/Al-Anabi team, qualified No. 1 with a 3.886 then bettered that number in round one with a sizzling 3.882 to beat fellow former Gatornationals champ Doug Kalitta. Dixon followed with a 3.86 to trailer Morgan Lucas and a 4.09 to beat last year’s runner-up, Brandon Bernstein. Dixon’s run would have been much quicker had not the blower belt broken; fortunately for Dixon, Bernstein had already smoked the tires. Dixon’s final-round appearance was his seventh at Gainesville Raceway and the 84th of his career.
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