DIXON PLAYS THE ROLE IN MEDIA BLITZ
Larry Dixon believes he’s done more media interviews in the last two weeks than he has during his entire career.
Dixon, who drives the C&J Energy Top Fuel dragster, has been a media magnet since his Bob Vandergriff Racing dragster broke apart and went flying through the air during a qualifying run at Florida's Gainesville Raceway. He walked away from the accident uninjured.
“Part of you is excited that you’re getting coverage for your sport, although maybe not for the right reasons,” Dixon said. “At least we're showing what we do. There are those [who would look at my wreck] and think we are thrill-seekers. Far from it.”
Dixon said he was checked out Saturday night at a local hospital, and while he didn’t suffer any injuries, he was a bit sore.
“I’m not a kid anymore, and I try to liken it to when I was a kid trying to ride every rollercoaster you could at the amusement park,” Dixon said. “As you get older, you learn the wooden rollercoasters beat you up. It’s like that. It’s not like the smooth steel ones.”
While the Gainesville crash had a high shock factor, for Dixon it pales in comparison to the one he suffered in 2000 during the NHRA Nationals at Memphis, Tenn.
“I didn’t walk away from that one,” Dixon said.
Dixon said the improvements to Top Fuel chassis design since the 2000 accident made the difference in major injury and just a measure of soreness. This was enough inspiration for Dixon to contact Herb Fishel, former head of GM’s Racing Division, and offer thanks for taking an active role in making the cars safer.
“I told them it took me 15 years to realize all they had put into safety – and thank you,” Dixon said. “It made the difference in me walking away.”
Dixon might have replayed the incident over time and time again for various interviews, but he isn’t tired of talking about what happened to him, and the fact that he walked away.
“It beats the alternative,” Dixon said with a laugh. “I have no problem with it. There’s part of you that hates the coverage for that reason but when you get to brag on our sport, and being able to go through something like this – I’m good with it. There’s a reason why we wear this safety equipment. You don’t know what is going to happen. But, if something does you just hope the equipment does what it is supposed to do.
“As my old crew chief Wes Cerny used to say, ‘You prepare for the worst and hope for the best.”
“Gainesville was about as bad of a thing as I have ever been through. When you go through one like that, and walk away, you are proud of it.”
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