BAYTOWN, Texas — Larry Dixon raced to his second victory of the season and 50th overall Sunday, beating Antron Brown in the Top Fuel final in the O’Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park.
Matt Hagan (Funny Car), Jeg Coughlin (Pro Stock) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event.
Dixon had a 4.541-second pass at 222.36 mph to Brown’s 4.638 at 173.32 to move into eighth place on the career victory list, breaking a tie with Don “The Snake” Prudhomme.
“That’s more than I thought I’d ever do in my lifetime … and I’m not done living yet,” Dixon said.
He dedicated the win to 3-year-old son Darien, who was hospitalized earlier in the week with a bacterial infection.
“He’s a tough, tough kid,” Dixon said. “He wanted us to win this race for him and we did. We’re going to bring this trophy home to him.”
Dixon also broke a tie with Jeg Coughlin (6.599 at 210.77), who moments earlier collected his 49th career Pro Stock win over Allen Johnson (6.596 at 210.77). Coughlin won No. 49 on a holeshot, using a 21-hundredths edge on the starting line to build a lead he never relinquished.
In Funny Car, 2009 Rookie of the Year contender Hagan raced to his first career victory. He had a 4.390-second pass at 247.57 mph to beat Jeff Arend (4.714 at 231.20).
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, three-time champion Hines won for the first time in 2010 with a 6.998-second pass at 196.02. Points leader Hector Arana fouled in the final.
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