Dixon Passes Garlits, Wins 100th For Team Owner Prudhomme

Bazemore, Connolly also pick up wins at NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals

LAS VEGAS - Larry Dixon moved into sole possession of third place on the all-time career Top Fuel wins list Sunday by winning the sixth annual NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Dixon's 36th career win (Joe Amato tops the all-time wins list with 52, Kenny Bernstein has 39) in his Miller Lite dragster moved him clear of drag racing legend Don Garlits (35 wins). It was also noteworthy for team owner Don Prudhomme, who claimed his 100th NHRA victory.

"I think it's way cool to get 100 wins for Snake (Prudhomme)," Dixon said. "I (remember) he had like 30-something wins and he was still racking them up. To be here now talking about 100 wins for Snake makes me feel very old all of a sudden."

Prudhomme had 49 wins as a driver (35 Funny Car, 14 Top Fuel) and now has 51 as a team owner.

"One-hundred is great, it's wonderful, but it's not like we're going to retire," Prudhomme said. "How much longer are we going to keep doing this? Until hell freezes over."

Dixon was the No. 2 qualifier and he turned in a 4.591-second pass at 326.40 mph in the final round to earn the win over No. 1 qualifier Doug Kalitta in his Mac Tools dragster.

The other winners at the $1.8 million race were Whit Bazemore in Funny Car and 22-year-old Dave Connolly in Pro Stock, each of whom became the first repeat winner in his respective category this season.

Bazemore nosed out first-time finalist Tony Bartone by powering his Matco Tools Iron Eagle Dodge Stratus to a pass of 4.976 at 315.12 mph for his 19th career win.

"I didn't really feel any pressure today because I was under so much yesterday that I think I used it all up," said Bazemore, who didn't qualify for the race until his final qualifying run Saturday. "I was thinking that even if we lost in the first round we were still 20 points better than it looked like it was going to be. I have to admit, I was really nervous yesterday afternoon."

It was the second win of the 2005 season for Bazemore (401 points) and it moved him ahead of John Force (340) after the fifth of 23 events on the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. "I watched (teammate Ron) Capps take out (John) Force in the first round right in front of me and I knew we had a tremendous opportunity in front of us," he said. "It was hard to focus. But the guys came through and we managed to take out a great-running car in the final."

Connolly (428), who supplanted Warren Johnson (419) atop the Pro Stock point standings, ended Greg Anderson's four-event and 19-round win streak in Las Vegas by turning in a 6.879 pass at 201.46 in his Bullet Motorsports Chevy Cavalier. It's the fourth time in his five career wins that Connolly has beaten Anderson.

"It seems like Greg's always over there in the other lane," Connolly said of Anderson, the two-time defending Pro Stock champion. "To outrun him in a final round says a lot because that's a great team over there. He's the champ and the guy we're all chasing. But I guess he didn't scare us all away over the winter. We just went to work."

The series now moves to Bristol, Tenn. For the fifth annual O'Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals, which will be held April 29 to May 1.

LAS VEGAS -- Final finish order (1-16) for professional categories at the Sixth annual NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The 1.8 million race is the fifth of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.

TOP FUEL: 1. Larry Dixon; 2. Doug Kalitta; 3. Tony Schumacher; 4. David Grubnic; 5. Doug Herbert; 6. Brandon Bernstein; 7. Cory McClenathan; 8. Jack Beckman; 9. Scott Weis; 10. Ben Marshall; 11. Scott Kalitta; 12. David Baca; 13. Morgan Lucas; 14. Mike Strasburg; 15. Scott Palmer; 16. Rod Fuller.

FUNNY CAR: 1. Whit Bazemore, Dodge Stratus; 2. Tony Bartone, Chevy Monte Carlo; 3. Ron Capps, Stratus; 4. Cruz Pedregon, Monte Carlo; 5. Gary Scelzi, Stratus; 6. Bob Gilbertson, Monte Carlo; 7. Robert Hight, Ford Mustang; 8. Tim Wilkerson, Monte Carlo; 9. Del Worsham, Monte Carlo; 10. Jeff Arend, Monte Carlo; 11. Phil Burkart, Monte Carlo; 12. Eric Medlen, Mustang; 13. John Force, Mustang; 14. Tony Pedregon, Monte Carlo; 15. Gary Densham, Monte Carlo; 16. Tommy Johnson Jr., Monte Carlo.

PRO STOCK: 1. Dave Connolly, Chevy Cavalier; 2. Greg Anderson, Pontiac Grand Am; 3. Warren Johnson, Grand Am; 4. Greg Stanfield, Cavalier; 5. V. Gaines, Dodge Stratus; 6. Kurt Johnson, Cavalier; 7. Ron Krisher, Cavalier; 8. Jeg Coughlin, Stratus; 9. Larry Morgan, Stratus; 10. Jim Yates, Grand Am; 11. Jason Line, Grand Am; 12. Rickie Smith, Cavalier; 13. Mike Edwards, Grand Am; 14. Kenny Koretsky, Stratus; 15. Richie Stevens, Stratus; 16. Bruce Allen, Grand Am.

LAS VEGAS -- Sunday's final results from the Sixth annual NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The 1.8 million race is the fifth of 23 in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series:

Top Fuel -- Larry Dixon, 4.591 seconds, 326.40 mph def. Doug Kalitta, 4.648 seconds, 319.52 mph.

Funny Car -- Whit Bazemore, Dodge Stratus, 4.976, 315.12 def. Tony Bartone, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.983, 303.23.

Pro Stock -- Dave Connolly, Chevy Cavalier, 6.879, 201.46 def. Greg Anderson, Pontiac Grand Am, 6.955, 200.77.

Top Alcohol Dragster -- Hillary Will, 5.440, 266.37 def. Joey Severance, 5.494, 260.81.

Top Alcohol Funny Car -- Steve Gasparrelli, Pontiac Firebird, 5.732, 251.81 def. Tate Branch, Chevy Camaro, 5.750, 253.61.

Super Stock -- Kevin Smith, Chevy Camaro, 10.257, 131.08 def. Tom Albritton, Pontiac Trans Am, 9.686, 138.80.

Stock Eliminator -- Steve Wann, Plymouth GTX, 10.818, 121.92 def. Aaron Koppien, Chevy Nova, 12.066, 82.82.

Super Comp -- Robert Naber, Dragster, 9.072, 169.47 def. Sheldon Gecker, Dragster, 9.081, 166.72.

Super Gas -- Ed Olpin, '27-T Ford, 10.040, 148.17 def. Rick Beckstrom, Pontiac Grand Am, 10.023, 160.18.

LAS VEGAS -- Final round-by-round results from the Sixth annual NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the fifth of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series -

TOP FUEL:

ROUND ONE -- David Grubnic, 4.598, 327.19 def. Morgan Lucas, 8.626, 88.50; Jack Beckman, 5.060, 221.56 def. Ben Marshall, 5.087, 220.51; Cory McClenathan, 4.599, 326.16 def. Scott Weis, 4.650, 310.34; Tony Schumacher, 4.609, 323.66 def. Rod Fuller, 22.029, 28.98; Doug Herbert, 4.679, 323.12 def. David Baca, 6.789, 124.22; Brandon Bernstein, 4.584, 326.87 def. Scott Kalitta, 6.129, 151.54; Larry Dixon, 4.618, 326.48 def. Mike Strasburg, 9.153, 92.70; Doug Kalitta, 4.639, 322.81 def. Scott Palmer, 14.790, 80.89;

QUARTERFINALS -- D. Kalitta, 4.667, 316.82 def. Beckman, broke; Schumacher, 4.590, 325.69 def. Herbert, 4.695, 311.34; Dixon, 4.657, 318.62 def. Bernstein, 4.809, 264.18; Grubnic, 4.623, 327.27 def. McClenathan, 5.011, 277.54;

SEMIFINALS -- Dixon, 4.742, 303.09 def. Grubnic, 5.658, 168.47; D. Kalitta, 4.789, 300.00 def. Schumacher, 5.248, 257.63;

FINAL -- Dixon, 4.591, 326.40 def. D. Kalitta, 4.648, 319.52.

FUNNY CAR:

ROUND ONE -- Tim Wilkerson, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.917, 319.82 def. Del Worsham, Monte Carlo, 4.977, 312.13; Robert Hight, Ford Mustang, 4.884, 320.89 def. Gary Densham, Monte Carlo, 6.447, 143.03; Ron Capps, Dodge Stratus, 4.951, 302.48 def. John Force, Mustang, 5.709, 186.79; Gary Scelzi, Stratus, 4.936, 317.27 def. Eric Medlen, Mustang, 5.597, 203.49; Whit Bazemore, Stratus, 4.931, 320.36 def. Tony Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 6.018, 172.14; Tony Bartone, Monte Carlo, 5.071, 290.44 def. Tommy Johnson Jr., Monte Carlo, 6.939, 130.86; Bob Gilbertson, Monte Carlo, 4.968, 307.86 def. Phil Burkart, Monte Carlo, 5.023, 303.91; Cruz Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 4.979, 302.48 def. Jeff Arend, Monte Carlo, 5.021, 306.88;

QUARTERFINALS -- Bartone, 5.364, 222.80 def. Wilkerson, 8.005, 96.22; Capps, 5.024, 308.35 def. Gilbertson, 5.034, 306.95; Bazemore, 5.305, 275.90 def. Hight, 7.911, 108.77; C. Pedregon, 5.006, 277.03 def. Scelzi, 4.995, 312.86;

SEMIFINALS -- Bartone, 4.928, 307.09 def. Capps, 4.963, 305.91; Bazemore, 5.089, 302.35 def. C. Pedregon, 5.113, 303.78;

FINAL -- Bazemore, 4.976, 315.12 def. Bartone, 4.983, 303.23.

PRO STOCK:

ROUND ONE -- V. Gaines, Dodge Stratus, 6.886, 200.50 def. Mike Edwards, Pontiac Grand Am, 6.896, 199.85; Dave Connolly, Chevy Cavalier, 6.869, 201.19 def. Jason Line, Grand Am, 6.893, 200.59; Greg Stanfield, Cavalier, 6.885, 200.71 def. Kenny Koretsky, Stratus, 6.908, 200.00; Jeg Coughlin, Stratus, 6.885, 201.31 def. Jim Yates, Grand Am, 6.890, 200.17; Kurt Johnson, Cavalier, 6.871, 201.07 def. Larry Morgan, Stratus, 6.882, 200.05; Warren Johnson, Grand Am, 6.874, 200.98 def. Bruce Allen, Grand Am, 8.629, 108.05; Ron Krisher, Cavalier, 6.882, 200.89 def. Rickie Smith, Cavalier, 6.894, 200.23; Greg Anderson, Grand Am, 6.889, 200.92 def. Richie Stevens, Stratus, 6.940, 200.92;

QUARTERFINALS -- Anderson, 6.904, 200.44 def. Coughlin, 7.007, 200.23; Stanfield, 6.934, 199.55 def. Krisher, 6.992, 199.91; Connolly, 6.874, 201.34 def. K. Johnson, 6.920, 200.92; W. Johnson, 6.874, 200.86 def. Gaines, 6.898, 200.32;

SEMIFINALS -- Anderson, 6.915, 200.59 def. W. Johnson, 6.880, 201.37; Connolly, 6.874, 201.46 def. Stanfield, 6.930, 200.44;

FINAL -- Connolly, 6.879, 201.46 def. Anderson, 6.955, 200.77.

LAS VEGAS -- Point standings (top 10) for NHRA professional categories following the Sixth annual NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the fifth of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series -

Top Fuel

1. Tony Schumacher, 420; 2. Doug Kalitta, 360; 3. Larry Dixon, 352; 4. Morgan Lucas, 333; 5. Cory McClenathan, 311; 6. David Grubnic, 310; 7. Doug Herbert, 289; 8. Scott Kalitta, 288; 9. Brandon Bernstein, 246; 10. (tie) Clay Millican, 157, Scott Weis, 157.

Funny Car

1. Whit Bazemore, 401; 2. John Force, 340; 3. Robert Hight, 323; 4. Cruz Pedregon, 302; 5. Tommy Johnson Jr., 265; 6. Ron Capps, 264; 7. Bob Gilbertson, 260; 8. Gary Scelzi, 254; 9. Eric Medlen, 250; 10. Del Worsham, 246.

Pro Stock

1. Dave Connolly, 428; 2. Warren Johnson, 419; 3. Greg Anderson, 333; 4. Jason Line, 326; 5. Ron Krisher, 286; 6. Jim Yates, 264; 7. Greg Stanfield, 260; 8. Allen Johnson, 258; 9. Jeg Coughlin, 243; 10. Kurt Johnson, 230.