Larry Dixon wreck
Larry Dixon wreck, Larry Dixon would prefer to get attention for winning races, not crashing. But on Sunday, that's precisely what he was doing. While other drivers were winning races, Dixon was getting attention for crashing.
As the final round of eliminations were taking place at the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals, Dixon was in a booth on the second floor of the press box taping an interview that will appear Monday morning on "Good Morning America."
He left shortly afterward to get to a local TV studio to tape a similar segment that will appear on "Fox & Friends." Others networks that came calling Sunday included CNN and NBC.
All wanted to talk about Dixon's wild, airborne crash during qualifying Saturday -- and the fact that Dixon walked away without being injured. His phone has been buzzing ever since it happened.
"I got over 500 mentions on Twitter, and I don't think I've ever got more than a dozen," Dixon told USA TODAY Sports after a day of interviews Sunday. "I've had some pretty spectacular crashes, but I'm here talking today. If I could, I'd be racing."
Dixon wasn't racing Sunday, but it wasn't for a lack of trying. Several teams, including Don Schumacher Racing and Kalitta Motorsports, offered Top Fuel chassis to Larry Dixon Racing, but the team didn't have time to retrofit a new car with key components from the crashed car, which was impounded by NHRA officials until 7:30 a.m. Sunday. Dixon's first-round matchup against Antron Brown was scheduled for 11a.m., so Dixon's team reluctantly scratched.
"It's like Joe Gibbs loaning his race car to Jeff Gordon," Dixon said. "That's very nice of him, but that car is a Toyota, and now Jeff has to put all of his Chevrolet equipment into it. And he can't start working on it until about three hours before the race. And then he has to give it back to him after the race."
Dixon said he and his crew still don't know why the car suddenly broke in two in the late stages of a qualifying run against Doug Kalitta. The back half of the car containing the cockpit and engine leaped about 20 feet into the air, landed on its wheels and came to a stop against the left wall.
But because the chassis was relatively young -- Dixon estimated it had been used for 60 to 70 runs -- fatigue of the chassis' metal tubing is not suspected.
"All the Captain Obvious things have been crossed off the list," Dixon said. "That's why we want to take the car back to the shop and take a really good look at it."
Throughout Sunday's interviews, the same question was posed:
Why do you do this?
"People think I'm a thrill-seeker, but I am so not a thrill-seeker," Dixon said. "I wouldn't bungee jump for a million bucks. I'm very comfortable in my environment. I grew up in this sport. I can go down the racetrack and look like I ran over a landmine at 300 mph and get out of the car and be talking to you. That reaffirms my feeling."
As the final round of eliminations were taking place at the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals, Dixon was in a booth on the second floor of the press box taping an interview that will appear Monday morning on "Good Morning America."
He left shortly afterward to get to a local TV studio to tape a similar segment that will appear on "Fox & Friends." Others networks that came calling Sunday included CNN and NBC.
All wanted to talk about Dixon's wild, airborne crash during qualifying Saturday -- and the fact that Dixon walked away without being injured. His phone has been buzzing ever since it happened.
"I got over 500 mentions on Twitter, and I don't think I've ever got more than a dozen," Dixon told USA TODAY Sports after a day of interviews Sunday. "I've had some pretty spectacular crashes, but I'm here talking today. If I could, I'd be racing."
Dixon wasn't racing Sunday, but it wasn't for a lack of trying. Several teams, including Don Schumacher Racing and Kalitta Motorsports, offered Top Fuel chassis to Larry Dixon Racing, but the team didn't have time to retrofit a new car with key components from the crashed car, which was impounded by NHRA officials until 7:30 a.m. Sunday. Dixon's first-round matchup against Antron Brown was scheduled for 11a.m., so Dixon's team reluctantly scratched.
"It's like Joe Gibbs loaning his race car to Jeff Gordon," Dixon said. "That's very nice of him, but that car is a Toyota, and now Jeff has to put all of his Chevrolet equipment into it. And he can't start working on it until about three hours before the race. And then he has to give it back to him after the race."
Dixon said he and his crew still don't know why the car suddenly broke in two in the late stages of a qualifying run against Doug Kalitta. The back half of the car containing the cockpit and engine leaped about 20 feet into the air, landed on its wheels and came to a stop against the left wall.
But because the chassis was relatively young -- Dixon estimated it had been used for 60 to 70 runs -- fatigue of the chassis' metal tubing is not suspected.
"All the Captain Obvious things have been crossed off the list," Dixon said. "That's why we want to take the car back to the shop and take a really good look at it."
Throughout Sunday's interviews, the same question was posed:
Why do you do this?
"People think I'm a thrill-seeker, but I am so not a thrill-seeker," Dixon said. "I wouldn't bungee jump for a million bucks. I'm very comfortable in my environment. I grew up in this sport. I can go down the racetrack and look like I ran over a landmine at 300 mph and get out of the car and be talking to you. That reaffirms my feeling."