Larry Dixon returns to Gainesville for first time since airborne crash
For the first time in his NHRA Top Fuel career, Larry Dixon will be racing for his own team this weekend at the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway in Florida.
While Dixon was at the track in 2016, he was there as a spectator after Bob Vandergriff Racing closed down at the start of the year.
Dixon’s return to the speedway comes just a little over two years after a dramatic crash that he suffered here on March 14, 2015, during a qualifying run. The incident left him with two fractured vertebrae, but the 50-year-old has now fully healed up and is looking forward to making his return.
“Despite what happened in that year of my life, with cancer and a broken back, I always wanted to continue Top Fuel racing and possibly compete with our own team,” said Dixon, who will race for Dixon Racing this weekend. “Within the last six months, we have been able to collect the race cars and equipment to get back to an NHRA national event. With the help of a few partners and quite a few teams in the Indy area, we are coming to Gainesville to see how things can go. We know we need additional support to get a regular program together, but we want to see if we can make some solid runs with this equipment. I can’t thank everyone enough. It’s time to get a glove and get in the game.”
