Making Tracks

On ractracks where thousandths of a second can seem an eternity, Granada Hills’ Larry Dixon Jr. called roaring along at 311 miles per hour sluggish.

“When the fastest guy in the sport has gone 318, you kind of feel slow, “ said Dixon, who drives a top-fuel dragster for Miller Racing.

The 30- year-old North Hollywood native will start a 23- race, coast-to- coast season the first weekend in February at the track where the top- fuel season ended in October- Pomona Raceway.

It will be Dixon’s third year in a top-fuel dragster, which uses a special combination of oxygen and alcohol enhanced fuel to generate more than 5,000 horsepower.

“The championship’s always your goal,” said Dixon, who placed third in the National Hot Rod Assn.’ point totals during 1995 and fourth in 1996, only a tight four points a second.

Dixon said that during his first time behind the wheel of a top- fuel dragster he noticed that the near- deafening engine noise he had heard as a spectator and pit crew member was curiously dampened because the exhaust pipes were finally behind him.

It was not always so. Dixon got his start in 1988 as a self-proclaimed gofer running errands, cleaning and washing parts for veteran Skoal driver Don “the Snake” Prudhomme, one of Dixon’s childhood heroes.

As crew members came and went, Dixon’s pit duties grew until Prudhomme declared 1994 his final season and asked Dixon to drive his $125,000-plus machine.

Without the money to own his own dragster, it was a dream come true, Dixon said.

“He let me get in his car,” Dixon said. “I was a nervous wreck. You’ve got the greatest driver of all time and he’s kind of putting you through his test.”

After each race, Dixon’s engine must be dissected, examined and rebuilt.

“We put in new parts,” he said. “All of 4 1/2 seconds of fun.”