National Hot Rod Association

With the victory, Dixon remains undefeated in the finals this season at a perfect 10-for-10. He also extended his lead in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs to 45 points over McClenathan with five races remaining.

Dixon and McClenathan were on a collision course throughout the weekend as they combined to lead four of the five qualifying sessions. Dixon eventually edged out his rival for the number one qualifying position on Saturday night with a new track record run of 3.776 seconds. The two-time Top Fuel champion defeated Bruce Litton, Steve Torrence and Shawn Langdon before his showdown with McClenathan. Dixon has now reached the semi-finals or finals in 12 of the last 14 NHRA Top Fuel events.

Langdon also advanced to the semi-finals on Sunday before falling to Dixon. Langdon eliminated fellow Toyota driver Antron Brown in the first round and Brandon Bernstein in round two. With the strong weekend, he has moved up to fourth-place in the Countdown standings.

Langdon’s teammate, Morgan Lucas, won his first-round contest on Sunday before being defeated in round two by Tony Schumacher. Lucas maintained his eighth-place position in the points race.

In Funny Cars, Cruz Pedregon advanced to the second round after a strong fourth in qualifying before falling to series point leader John Force. Del Worsham was eliminated in the first round after qualifying 11th.

The NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series resumes with the second round of the Countdown to the Championship playoffs at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, N.C., Sept. 17-19.

Toyota Drivers, Results – Mac Tools U.S. Nationals - Qual./Finish

Top Fuel:
Larry Dixon, Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel Dragster - 1/Winner
Shawn Langdon, Lucas Oil/Speedco Top Fuel Dragster - 12/Semi-finals
Morgan Lucas, GEICO Powersports/Lucas Oil Top Fuel Dragster - 11/Second-round
Antron Brown, Matco Tools Top Fuel Dragster - 5/First-round

Funny Car:
Cruz Pedregon, Snap-On Tools Toyota Camry Solara - 4/Second-round
Del Worsham, Al-Anabi Racing Toyota Camry Solara Funny Car - 11/First-round

NOTES:
- Larry Dixon is now a perfect 10 for 10 in finals appearances this season. Overall, he has made the semi-finals or finals in 14 of 18 races – including 12 of the last 14.
- Larry Dixon’s 10 victories are a new personal single-season best for him. His previous best was nine, set during his championship winning season in 2002. His 10 victories have surpassed the rest of the Top Fuel field by two through the season’s first 18 races. The win is the 58th of his Top Fuel career – good for second best all-time.
- Larry Dixon now boasts a series-best 50-8 record in elimination rounds this season.

2010 Wins (10) - Larry Dixon (10) - Pomona, Houston, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Chicago, Englishtown, Norwalk, Sonoma, Brainerd

2010 Poles (12) - Antron Brown (5): Gainesville, Las Vegas, Topeka, Bristol; Denver; Worsham (1): Las Vegas; Larry Dixon (6): Houston, Atlanta, Chicago, Norwalk, Sonoma, Indianapolis

Quotes:

Larry Dixon, Al-Anabi Racing Toyota Top Fuel Dragster: “Indy means so much to me – as well as to Allan and the Johnson family, who has sacrificed so much here. All the years coming here with my dad as a kid – not winning, but just being glad to qualify just makes this so special. Cory was really good all weekend and you’ve got to make a run to beat that team, they aren’t going to give you anything. The Al-Anabi team was just a little bit better this week. The whole team just did a great job. Allan and Jason (McCullough) are just so meticulous. Jason has been preparing for the Countdown in June making sure we have all of our best parts ready to go. There are no mulligans in the playoffs.”

Shawn Langdon, Lucas Oil/Speedco Toyota Top Fuel Dragster: "We had a great race against Antron in the first round and then we got a little bit lucky in the second round. We really haven’t had much luck go our way this season, so maybe it was just our time. After we lost to Larry in the semi-finals, I went back and told my team that they did a great job and we just lost a great drag race to a car that was a little bit better. Overall, it was a great day for us. (Note: Langdon also won the U.S. Nationals Super Comp title this weekend).”

Morgan Lucas, GEICO Powersports/Lucas Oil Toyota Top Fuel Dragster: "I think we've made some improvements in the car the last couple of weeks. It's more consistent now. We're having that struggle when it gets a little warm. We can't seem to get it through the shake zone. We've just got to get the thing a little more calmed down through there. But I think we have a better idea of making it run when conditions are good. I think it's just a little thing we need to change to make it do what we want."