Imagine for a moment a pay-per-view ultimate fighter or boxer having to perform under the same conditions as an NHRA drag racer when the weather refuses to cooperate.

“It’s sort of like having a boxing match and stopping after four rounds and saying, ‘We’ll come back in maybe an hour or two,” said Larry Dixon following his fifth win of 2010 season and the 53rd of his career. “You are just walking around on eggshells the whole day. You are just waiting to do something. I am definitely glad everybody stuck it out.”

Dixon made those who stuck out a rainy race day at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals extremely proud of their decision as he defeated arch-rival Tony Schumacher in their sixth meeting of the season. They each now have three wins apiece in 2010 head-to-head competition.

Imagine for a moment a pay-per-view ultimate fighter or boxer having to perform under the same conditions as an NHRA drag racer when the weather

refuses to cooperate.

“It’s sort of like having a boxing match and stopping after four rounds and saying, ‘We’ll come back in maybe an hour or two,” said Larry Dixon following his fifth win of 2010 season and the 53rd of his career. “You are just walking around on eggshells the whole day. You are just waiting to do something. I am definitely glad everybody stuck it out.”

Dixon made those who stuck out a rainy race day at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals extremely proud of their decision as he defeated arch-rival Tony Schumacher in their sixth meeting of the season. They each now have three wins apiece in 2010 head-to-head competition.

Friday’s qualifying was abbreviated to just one session and Saturday’s action was delayed by early showers. Sunday appeared, early on, as the one day where rain wouldn’t affect the event.

However, moments before the drivers were to suit up for the semi-finals, severe weather sent the teams scurrying for the shelter of their pits and fans seeking dry ground underneath the grandstands. Racing resumed several hours later and just a few ticks before the midnight hour, Dixon won the Top Fuel crown.

“It was a long day but not as long as Friday,” Dixon said. “For us, it was definitely worth the wait.”

Dixon scored the win with a 3.773-second run at 321.65 miles per hour. His run captured low elapsed time of the event and the performance came as no shock to Dixon, a two-time winner at the facility.

“This place is gold,” said Dixon. “It’s the gold standard when the sun is off of it. We’ve seen all through the years how good this place can be. Now you get to see it at 1,000 feet as opposed to a quarter. It’s awesome.”

Though the stands were largely empty, the excitement of racing under the lights wasn’t lost on Dixon. The experience evoked childhood memories for the second-generation Top Fuel racer.

“It’s cool; it’s what I grew up on,” Dixon explained. “My dad raced that way enough times when I was a kid. Racing at Orange County, that’s just what you did. Our sport is so cool at night, and I am biased, with the flames coming out of the cars, I wished we raced all through the summer on Saturday nights.”

“I was just glad everybody did what they could to get it in tonight, so we didn’t have to come back on Monday with different conditions. The fans who stuck it out got to see it all.”