National Hot Rod Association

After claiming one of the great victories of his career at the season-opening NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Calif., Dixon was upset just a week later with that first-round loss at last weekend's Arizona Nationals at Firebird International Raceway in Chandler, Ariz.

"This was a big disappointment, obviously, especially after how well we did at Pomona," says Dixon. "I'll say this, though: I sure wouldn't trade that what we did at Pomona for a win at Phoenix. The Winternationals is one of the biggest races of the year, and this year it was the 50th annual. We qualified well there [number two], beat everybody, and beat 'em all fair and square, there's nothing to complain about."

Dixon picked up in Phoenix right where he left off in Pomona, taking the provisional pole Friday afternoon with a 3.837-second time. He also posted the fastest speed of the session, 317.57 mph, which held up all weekend as the fastest of the event. But that was the last time all weekend that the 16-year veteran would make it down the 1,000-foot course under full power.

"For whatever reason, we never did get the right setup for the track and the conditions at Firebird," Dixon says. "We smoked the tires Friday night and did it again on Saturday, and the other Saturday run was rained out, so everybody kind of caught up to us."

Overpowering the track in the Friday evening and Saturday afternoon sessions, when track and weather conditions were much more conducive to good times, dropped Dixon to third in the final qualifying order behind Tony Schumacher, who has won the past six NHRA championships, and Doug Kalitta, who has opened the 2010 Full Throttle Drag Racing season with back-to-back final-round appearances.

"After spinning the tires on those two qualifying runs, we went with a softer setup in the car for the first round of eliminations," he says. On that run, against upstart Steve Chrisman, son of drag racing pioneer Jack, Dixon again struggled for traction, but this time, it was different.

"It wasn't a case of blowing the tires off of it, like we did on our last two runs in qualifying," he says. "The track was tight on Sunday, and it made the car shake the tires. I pedaled it, but we just got outrun. Those are the breaks. In a sport where you're only on the track for four seconds at a time, the margin for error is pretty small."

Chrisman, who was a full two-tenths of a second slower than Dixon in qualifying, 3.83 to 4.04, slowed from his qualifying time but advanced with a smooth 4.11. Dixon feathered the throttle to regain control and gave chase, running 15 mph faster than Chrisman at the 660-foot mark and 17 mph faster at the finish line, 305 mph to Chrisman's 288.

"All I needed was a little more room," Dixon says. "I blew past him right after the finish line; I just didn't get there in time. When the car starts shaking the tires, you have to make a decision. This car likes to quiver the tires at a certain spot on the track, even on really good runs, so I stayed in the throttle and let it do what it was going to do. The problem was, it didn't drive through the shake that time – it got worse. So I pedaled it and hoped it would be enough to get the car down the track, but that time, it wasn't.

"For a long time, I didn't see him," he adds. "I got the car settled down and saw him shoot out there ahead of me. By the time we got to half-track, I was really reeling him in, but he got to make an all-out run and I didn't. I don't care who you're running, if they're on the throttle all the way to the finish line and nothing goes wrong, and you have to lift to get the car under control, you're not going to win. It's part of racing, part of the highs and lows you're always going to have. Hey, it's not like it's Chrisman's fault. Give him credit. He was just trying to keep us honest, and he did."

Despite that disappointment, Dixon lies third in the Full Throttle points standings, heading the Toyota-supported Top Fuel drivers, with a win under his belt and a bright outlook for the Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla., March 12-14. "We'll lick our wounds and put this behind us," he said. "A weekend like this, you just flush it and forget about it. Two races, and one win? I'll take that anytime. We're going to Gainesville with a car and a team that can win."