Three-time world champion Larry Dixon will pilot the Dote Racing Top Fuel dragster at three of the remaining NHRA Full Throttle Series events this season, beginning with this weekend's fifth annual O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals at zMax Dragway.
Dixon, whose 62 Top Fuel victories rank second on the all-time list, has also signed on to compete with the part-time team in St. Louis and Reading, Pa.
"We are thrilled to partner with a driver of Larry's caliber for the remainder of our scheduled races," said Connie Dote, co-owner of Dote Racing. "Larry is one of the best drivers of all time and we couldn't be more excited to combine his talents with our car's improving performance."
Since parting ways with Al-Anabi Racing last off-season, Dixon has been working on securing funding to put his own team together, a project that will continue as he fills-in at Dote Racing.
"I'm really happy the Dotes offered me this chance to drive their car," Dixon said. "It'll be fun to get out there and duke it out with everyone again. I've been working hard at putting my own team together and I know the Dotes are looking at what their next move will be in 2013. In the meantime, I'm happy to sub in for them. I feel like a free agent quarterback who just got the call to come start the next game.
"I've known Doug (Kuch, crew chief) for 25 years and it will be fun to work with him. Hopefully, they'll get as much out of me driving for them as I will taking their car through these three races."
The Dote team, with tuner Kuch, have turned heads this season by consistently posting competitive elapsed times on the scoreboard. They successfully qualified at all seven races they contested so far and reached the semifinals in Chicago, their best finish to date.
"We've gone rounds at the last two races and with the car's increasing performance I'm interested to hear what kind of feedback Larry can give us," Kuch said. "We are all looking forward to having him behind the wheel as we return to Charlotte."
