Friday finds NHRA points shuffled
Friday, Nov. 13, 2009
AP
Larry Dixon powers his Al-Anabi Racing dragster to the qualifying lead in an auto race Friday, Nov. 13, 2009, at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, Calif. (AP Photo/NHRA, Marc Gewertz)
AP
John Force races to the Funny Car qualifying lead in his Castrol GTX High-Mileage Ford Mustang in an auto race Friday, Nov. 13, 2009, at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, Calif. (AP Photo/NHRA, Jerry Foss)
POMONA, Calif. – Larry Dixon took a one-point lead over Tony Schumacher in the Top Fuel season standings, leading qualifying Friday in the season-ending Auto Club NHRA Finals to earn three bonus points.
Dixon had a pass at 3.801 seconds at 318.99 mph on the second of three days of qualifying. Schumacher entered the day with a two-point lead, but lost traction on his second qualifying run.
"If we just wanted to call it a weekend and everyone goes home, that's fine by me," Dixon said. "We'll just see if we can hang on to the points lead now."
John Force (Funny Car), Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) and Karen Stoffer (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also topped their divisions.
For Force (4.060 at 307.72), the 14-time NHRA champion who's 60, it would be his first No. 1 in more than three years, dating to the 2006 Mac Tools U.S. Nationals.
In Pro Stock, points leader Edwards maintained his place on top of the qualifying ladder with an improved 6.575 at 210.31 mph. It would be Edwards' 16th No. 1, matching the single-season NHRA high set by Greg Anderson in 2004.
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, no one bettered Stoffer's 6.982-second pass at 191.70 mph from Thursday.
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