Dixon, Scelzi, Johnson and Showers lead qualifying at 
Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway

BRAINERD, Minn. - Larry Dixon raced to his fourth No. 1 qualifying     
position of the season Saturday at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at     
Brainerd International Raceway and is in position to win his fourth    
consecutive race Gary Scelzi, Kurt Johnson and Reggie Showers also led 
their respective categories at the $1.9 million race, the 16th of 23   
events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Dixon paced 
the Top Fuel field when he blasted his Miller Lite dragster to his     
23rd career No. 1 qualifying position with a run of 4.638 seconds at   
321.42 mph. Dixon, who swept the recent Western Swing (Denver, Seattle 
and Sonoma, Calif.), can become the third Top Fuel driver in NHRA      
history to earn four consecutive victories (Scott Kalitta,1994 and Cory
McClenathan, 1997)                                                     

"The conditions were there in the final session," said Dixon. "There
was just enough cloud cover and the temperature was cool enough, so the
potential was there to run better than yesterday.

"I'm not thinking about winning four straight. Maybe if we get to the
final round then I'll think about it. We've got to win three rounds
first. It's going to take a lot of hard work."

Doug Kalitta, who is second in the Top Fuel points standings and trails
Dixon by 310 points, qualified second, while defending event champion
Kenny Bernstein will start from the third position.

Scelzi clocked a pass of 4.940 at 311.63 in his Oakley Dodge Stratus
to claim his second No. 1 qualifying position in the last three events
and 35th of his career. Scelzi, who earned his first career Funny Car
victory two weeks ago in Sonoma, captured his first No. 1 qualifying
position in Funny Car competition at Pacific Raceways near Seattle in
July.

"I feel really good," said Scelzi. "I'm glad we got down the
track this
afternoon. You don't like to go out and only get down the track on
one out of four runs. We're ready for Sunday. Everybody is upbeat and
excited. Coming off that win, we need to make a move in the POWERade
points. We can't slip up."

Funny Car points leader Tony Pedregon, who is coming off three
consecutive first round losses, will start from the eighth position.
Whit Bazemore, who trails Pedregon by 44 points, qualified in the No. 3
position. Pedregon's teammate John Force, who is currently third in the
points standings, qualified second.

Johnson led Pro Stock qualifying for the first time this season and 22nd
of his career by driving his ACDelco Chevy Cavalier to a run of 6.876
at 200.23. Johnson also set the track speed record at 201.01 during
qualifying. It is Johnson's first No. 1 qualifying spot since Oct. 2002.

"Greg (Anderson) has been in the way all year," said Johnson.
"I played
with the carburetors this weekend. We had some problems with the motor
at Sonoma and Seattle. We finally got it hitting on all eight cylinders
here and it ran good."

Pro Stock points leader Greg Anderson qualified second, while Taylor
Lastor will start from the third slot. Jeg Coughlin, who earned his
first victory of the season at Infineon Raceway two weeks ago, qualified
fourth.

Showers earned his first career No. 1 qualifying position when he rode
his PDI Suzuki to a run of 7.231 at 185.03 to lead the Pro Stock Bike
order. Showers previous qualifying best was the third position two weeks
ago at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma.

"I used to qualify No. 1 in IDBA all the time," said Showers.
"This is a
whole different ballgame over here. This is the toughest the Pro Stock
Bike field has ever been. Everyone has their programs together. Last
night, I wrote a list of wants and one of those wants was to qualify No.
1. Now, I want to win rounds and races. We're feeling good right now."

Category points leader Geno Scali, who has three victories this season,
qualified in the No. 5 position, while second place rider Angelle Savoie
will start from the third spot.

Final eliminations begin Sunday at 11 a.m.



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