Rapisarda Autosport Int’l Set to Work with New Equipment at Route 66 Raceway
JOLIET, Ill. (June 25, 2013) – Larry Dixon has been sitting on the sidelines lately with an itchy right foot.
The three-time NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel series champion is anxious to jump back in the cockpit of the Rapisarda Autosport International dragster this weekend (June 28-30) for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals. Dixon’s throttle foot is ready to rock, starting with the Friday qualifying rounds.
“Yep, I’m pretty excited to be back in the race car this weekend,” said Dixon, the three-time Route 66 Raceway winner. “We have Richard Hogan and several of his crew guys back to assist us at Joliet and we have the new parts that we think we need to be competitive. We ran those parts at Englishtown and we had plenty of horsepower. We just need to get it to the ground now.”
Dixon was pleased with the initial progress of the Rapisarda Top Fuel machine four weeks ago.
“It was nice to see Richard and his crew guys work well with the Rapisarda boys (Santo Jr. and Tino) in that first event,” said Dixon, who has six Top Fuel final round appearances during his career at Joliet. “We brought in a lot of new equipment for that race including the new cylinder heads. I can see some real potential with this new setup.”
Dixon would like to be a regular on the NHRA national event schedule but the Australian-based Rapisarda Top Fuel effort has kept the Avon, Ind., veteran in the driver’s seat in 2013.
“Sure, I’d love to be on the entire NHRA Mello Yello Series but Santo (Rapisarda, team owner) didn’t have the funding for a full season,” explained Dixon. “So we were able to run a selected number of races this year and I think everyone is learning each other right now. With the new equipment and the new crew guys, I expect the team to be competitive this weekend at Joliet.”
Dixon earlier this year recorded a new Australian national record with a 4.50-second quarter-mile run at Willowbank Raceway near Brisbane, Australia on March 30, 2013. And Dixon hopes the team can produce another strong performance when the team rolls out at Joliet.
“I believe the Joliet track is one of the finest in the country,” said Dixon. “The Chicago area drag racing fans are very enthusiastic and knowledgeable. Drag racing has always been big in the area with the famed Chi-Town Hustler Funny Car and tracks like U.S. 30 and Great Lakes Dragaway. Plus everyone remembers the ‘Sunday, Sunday, Sunday’ radio commercials from
those tracks. So it’s always great to return to Joliet and visit the fans. I believe we can put things together this weekend and make a strong showing with the Rapisarda Top Fuel car.”
Pro qualifying for the NHRA O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 Nationals begins at 5:15 p.m. CDT Friday with a second round at 8 p.m. Saturday’s two qualifying rounds are set for 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. CDT. The Final eliminations are scheduled for 11 a.m. CDT Sunday.
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