Some things happen for a reason.

For every bad circumstance, a good situation can be gained.

Such is the case for the Don Prudhomme-owned Top Fuel dragster driven by two-time champion Larry Dixon.

The team suffered what some might figure to be a major blow last season when long-time sponsor Miller Brewing Co. decided not to renew its contract. But all that did was open the door for SkyTel, a wireless data and messaging service company, to enter the world of NHRA POWERade Series drag racing.

When one door closes (Miller), another one always opens (Skytel)…

Some things happen for a reason.

For every bad circumstance, a good situation can be gained.

Such is the case for the Don Prudhomme-owned Top Fuel dragster driven by two-time champion Larry Dixon.

The team suffered what some might figure to be a major blow last season when long-time sponsor Miller Brewing Co. decided not to renew its contract. But all that did was open the door for SkyTel, a wireless data and messaging service company, to enter the world of NHRA POWERade Series drag racing.

"This is a company that wants to be involved with NHRA and wants to be involved with our team," said Dixon, who has shed his Miller blue for SkyTel orange and white. "That makes me proud. There's instantly loyalty right there, with them wanting to be involved with our team and our sport.

"That just makes me proud. And the president of the company (John Fellows), who lives in Indianapolis, came by the shop when we started putting this deal together. In the 12 years with Miller, the president of the company never came to the shop. (Fellows) did, and he came back that day and brought some friends over to look (around).”

“He was really excited about it. He was there when we tested, when made the first run in the car...I'm on a first-name basis with the guy. It makes you feel that they are very interested in how we are doing and how we represent them."

Prudhomme, who said the deal with SkyTel had been in the works for quite sometime, stated that he did receive inquires from a variety of companies last season, but SkyTel, which is a division of Bell Industries, Inc., was the more perfect fit.

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"We looked at several companies," Prudhomme said. "But quite honestly, SkyTel was the best proposition, and being a wireless company, it would fit better in the sport. They laid on a good plan on merchandising their products in the automotive industry and NHRA. It's going to be a great marriage. It's just a matter of getting things started."

SkyTel's game plan is to market and promote its products at NHRA national events throughout the season. The products to be promoted include SkyGuard, a GPS tracking, monitoring and theft-protection device for motor vehicles.

"We see the NHRA as a tremendous platform for building SkyTel's brand awareness and sales," said Brad Richards, executive vice president of sales and marketing for SkyTel. "By partnering with Don Prudhomme, we have associated our brand with not only the best team owner in the business, but one of its finest drivers – Larry Dixon."

While the multi-year deal wasn't announced until Feb. 7, Prudhomme said the deal had been in the works for several months. The big holdup was the purchase of SkyTel by Bell from Verizon Communications, Inc. And although that sale didn't become official until Feb. 1, Prudhomme said he was confident the new owners would honor his deal with SkyTel.

"The acquisition (with Bell)? I was concerned of that not going through, because anything can happen," Prudhomme said. "But I knew Bell Industries, which bought them, is a good standup company, so no, I wasn't worried about it."

Neither was Dixon, despite seeing several months go by without anything becoming official.

"Snake told me to trust him," Dixon said. "I always have and he's always come through. He said he would make it happen and he did."

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The fan reaction has been somewhat mixed, but only from the part that after 12 years with Miller, most drag-racing enthusiasts have become accustomed to seeing Dixon and crew sporting Miller blue and white. Even Prudhomme mistakenly identified the team's pit area during the Winternationals as the ''Miller pit." before correcting himself.

"People seem to like it. I like it," Prudhomme said of his bright orange and white dragster. "It's just a matter of getting used to it after seeing the car one color for so many years. It's just part of changing, and changes are good."

One thing that hasn't changed is the performance. The Snake Racing team, regardless of sponsor or car color, is once again expected to be a big-time player in the Series title chase, and the team's new Snake skin isn't likely to change that.

The opening act at the CARQUEST Winternationals proved it. The SkyTel team, although it suffered a first-round loss during the opening race, had its dragster humming during qualifying. Dixon made four runs of 4.533 seconds or quicker before earning the No. 6 position with a 4.504 run at 328.54 mph.

"It was going down the track very consistently," said Dixon, who returns to the nitro wars this weekend when the NHRA POWERade Series tour visits Firebird International Raceway in Chandler, Ariz. for the Checker Schuck’s Kragen Nationals. "It's not that we weren't happy with the 4.52, 4.53s, but we (want) to be better.

"We came (to Pomona) hoping to run a 4.53, and it ran a 4.50 out of the gate. So we were excited about that. Yeah, we're trying to run better, but at the same time, you have to be happy that the car is going down the race track. That makes it real nice.            

"It's a brand new car, and half our crew is new - everything is new here. It's a new attitude, a new sponsor, so I'm really excited about how things are going."