NHRA Suspends Larry Dixon Indefinitely

more likely nhra po`d that dixon wouldn't share $$+++++++++
Three-time NHRA Top Fuel world champion Larry Dixon has been suspended indefinitely from NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series and Lucas Oil Series competition, it was announced today. The decision, according to the statement, centers on an unapproved two-seat Top Fuel dragster that Dixon revealed at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, Nevada last week. Promotional video and imagery depict the unique “Nitro2” dragster running only at the Palm Beach International Raceway, an IHRA-sanctioned facility, suggesting there’s more to this story than meets the eye.

The NHRA’s statement reads:

The NHRA imposed an indefinite suspension of competition privileges against Larry Dixon for violating NHRA Rules, particularly Section 1.3.1 Participant Conduct and 1.6.3 Chassis Inspection of the 2017 NHRA Rulebook. NHRA Tech Department discovered the use of a NHRA chassis tag on an unauthorized and unapproved two seat dragster. Any further incidents could result in further action. Larry can appeal the decision, per the 2017 NHRA Rulebook.

While seeking sponsorship for his own Top Fuel team, Dixon has been competing in the latter half of the 2017 season behind the wheel of the Bartone Brothers Top Alcohol Funny Car on the Lucas Oil trail. Dixon drew the ire of the sanctioning body earlier this season in his Top Fuel appearance at the Gatornationals, when he was ordered to cover decals on his dragster advertising the annual World Series of Drag Racing, an IHRA-owned property.

Typical NHRA Gestapo tactics.

Many people over the years have been subjected to their tactics and BS favoritism.....Glad to see they haven't learned a damn thing...I do what I can and stay with IHRA.

Talked to a guy a couple weeks ago pitted next to me at a 'bracket race' that was running a legal NHRA SS/GT car. He said he had ran NHRA events for years but was getting tired of the BS. He said he was having more fun running the 'bracket races' and there was more money to be won at the 'bracket races'...imagine that.

Oh for Pete's sake. What else could NHRA have done? This is pretty basic stuff.

According to what I've read, the chassis wasn't legal and it had a tag on it. No idea if the builder put the tag on it or someone else. Don't you think they'd get mad and respond if they caught you or me with a bogus tag on an illegal chassis or set of belts or any other piece of equipment that covered by an SFI spec? I can't imagine Larry being that stupid. Maybe he was fed a line of crap about the chassis being legal. He could have not put the tag on the car and ran it at any non-NHRA track with no repercussions.

My guess is they converted an existing car, and never bothered taking the old sticker off...

Clearly this is more then just a "Sticker Violation"...

The car was at SEMA. Likely where NHRA people just happened to see it. I also read that McKinney was involved with the car in someway. Again, I can't imagine LD trying to get something he knew to be wrong past NHRA tech guys.

They COULD have questioned him about that tag, ( why it was there) had him remove it, and then had the chassis go through their certification.

Yea, but come on...you're Larry Dixon, right? A legendary TF driver that been to the NHRA party for YEARS.

I find it hard to believe that Larry wouldn't have had this car built without the NHRA being on board. Or at least consulted.

There's more to this story I'd bet...

You would think he would have talked to NHRA tech. Obviously he didn't build it. He likely relied on whoever built the car to take care of the chassis legality issues.

Quote from another news article:

Promotional video and imagery depict the unique “Nitro2” dragster running only at the Palm Beach International Raceway, an IHRA-sanctioned facility, suggesting there’s more to this story than meets the eye.

Hmmmm.

Remember this?

Dixon drew the ire of the sanctioning body earlier this season in his Top Fuel appearance at the Gatornationals, when he was ordered to cover decals on his dragster advertising the annual World Series of Drag Racing, an IHRA-owned property.

https://youtu.be/6nb7L0J4Mz8

Must have not greased the right palms...

This isn't some half a$$ spur-of-the moment deal. Lots of publicity, corporate sponsorship, a pretty cool idea. Can't believe somebody didn't take care of a basic detail. Maybe they didn't think it a big deal since it wouldn't be run at an NHRA track and PBIR is owned by IHRA which LD works for. As was suggested, it may be a previous sticker on a car they modified. But obviously, if it's an NHRA tag, there's a problem. They could have simply peeled the tag off. I've seen that done after an accident. But they do need to be re-certified yearly. I'm not saying that NHRA isn't taking advantage of an opportunity to be dicks. But somebody should have been thinking.

I wonder how much a ride costs, looks fun

Ride in that thing for 10K? Heck yea!

I'm in for ten!

There is no way anyone should ride in a car that literally flattens your eyeballs without AT LEAST an advanced ET license that would include the physical and EKG. I can see NHRA's point here. Yes, more times than not, they've been making some bad decisions on this sort of stuff. This time they got it right. If a person dies in that thing with an NHRA sticker on it there would be no more NHRA.

I'm no lawyer but I'm pretty sure that sticker means absolutely nothing outside of an NHRA sanctioned track. All it signifies is that the chassis meets NHRA requirements for its class/ET to race on an NHRA track.

The Participant Conduct rule is the only one with any teeth here because the chassis was never going down an NHRA track anyway. Promoting IHRA product while flying NHRA colors is what triggered the conduct rule.

Kevin

I did once see a video of a guy strapped to a Super Comp car go down the track to a high 7 second pass. He was strapped to the back, like over the engine! I think it was in South America somewhere.
You don't think a wrongful death, money and a few good lawyers wouldn't tackle it for all it's worth? NHRA would loose their cookies just paying for the litigation. I think that dragster is a bad idea anyway from a safety standpoint unless it's licensed guys having fun. I think it was pretty ignorant of Dixon and whoever built/modified that chassis to have that sticker on it at SEMA of all places. Ignorance tax 101 if you ask me...

Looks fun. My buddy's would love it if I had it

There are NO chassis cert specifications for a two place Top Fuel dragster. Probably never will be...

that sticker means absolutely nothing

Everybody signed waivers of everything, or they wouldn't let them in the parking lot.

Two man TF dragsters may be the wave of the future, Team TF racing. One driver and the other on the throttle, it would interesting. lol


How would've the nhra reacted if it wasn't a big name driver involved? Wouldn't the car have to pass ihra tech before it could make a pass? Dixon has an ihra license too? Was the cert sticker current? If the car was new from end to end, where did the builder get the cert sticker?

My bet is that's it was an old car that was converted to a two seater and the sticker wasn't removed.

Here's some more info.


http://competitionplus.com/drag-racing/news/dixon-on-nhra-suspension-crushed-first-now-embarrassed

Sorry that "sticker" does mean something - it should have been removed by the chassis builder when the chassis was modified - It goes along the lines of misrepresentation and fraud. Dixon knew the rules and chose to violate them - now he has the results of his action. He can still go play in IHRA with it. The real issue here is safety for the sport - making a ride-along Top Fuel is pretty much a bad idea from the start and really shows the disrespect of the individual for the profession.

^^^^ bs

I agree NHRA has got Dixon on their sh** list. If Dixon presented the car for tech inspection at a NHRA track, just tell him to take it home until it met specs. Since NHRA has no spec for a two person top fuel car, that would be hard to do. I understand they pulled the sticker at SEMA to make a big show of it. Give me a break. I have been allowed to run with a out of date belt and chassis stickers at the end of the season last race etc. Nobody jerked my right to race at a NHRA event for ever. Just told to make it right next time I showed up, which I did.

One driver and one navigator

I'd want the whole 1320', none of that 1000' BS.

An expired sticker? Seriously? I better remove my expired sticker before someone sees it.

Nothing to navigate. In a drag race all the driver does is hold the wheel straight and the gas pedal on the floor, right?

For those who believe the sticker means nothing, you're wrong. The sticker is proof of inspection and certification by an NHRA employee confirming it meets specs outlined by SFI. If that chassis were to fail and get someone hurt or killed, where do you think the ambulance chasers are going to go? NHRA doesn't play with the SFI tags on anything. The release form you sign when you go to the track isn't worth the paper it's printed on when the crap hits the fan. Guys who have been caught with bogus stickers and tags on belts, helmets, and other stuff have always been dealt with pretty severely. I've seen cars wrecked and an NHRA guy get to the car before it was cleaned up off the track to pull the sticker off. They take it very serious. Any modifications or repairs from the last inspection are supposed to include a re-inspection. Hell, if you grind on a trans shield to make it fit, the SFI tag becomes void and you're liable to get tossed if they catch it.

That said, this punishment for an expired tag seems to be a bit over the top and I'm sure his involvement with IHRA probably didn't score him any "get out of jail" points. Someone should have scraped the damn sticker off somewhere in the process.

Okay, one driver and one official NHRA spy to look over your shoulder and make sure you don't mumble "IHRA" under your breath while you drive.

I'm pretty sure the certification is void if the car is modified after inspection and that the sticker is only meaningful in the world of NHRA. The NHRA lawyers would only have to prove the car doesn't meet any specs listed in the rulebook.

When I wrecked in 2010 a track official and an NHRA inspector came right to my Trailer. (Norwalk) He explained the rules and said they could either pull the sticker or the inspector could check out the damage and possibly let it slide. I opened my trailer doors and said go at it. He climbed around and in the car and said the chassis was fine. I thanked him and they left. The strap on my helmet was cut off before the car left the track by an official

Ambulance chaser: "Well Mr. NHRA representative, if it doesn't meet specs, why is your sticker on there saying that you certified that it does? Can you prove that it was altered after your agent certified it? Shouldn't you have reasonably anticipated that modifications may be made in the normal course of the use of that chassis and adjusted your certification process accordingly?"

Stupid people managed to sue GM and win because they had 5 pounds of junk on their key ring and it would rotate the ignition switch and shut the car off while driving. Juries rule in favor of idiots who cause their own problems everyday. The sticker makes NHRA liable for confirming the chassis meets specifications. Why would they haphazardly be OK with leaving themselves open to the whims of a jury who know nothing about any of it? They take all of it seriously and are quite proactive about it.

Seems a little bit like sour grapes to me. It was at a car show, for goodness sakes. The sticker was expired. It's not like he was trying to enter it in an event. It was in plain sight, obviously, not like he was sneaking something by someone.

As I understand it, NHRA was concerned that LD was booking rides in the car at SEMA and that the presence of a tag could lead potential customers to assume that the car was in fact certified in that configuration. Liability issue. Had it been scraped off, I don't think there would have been this problem.

I see no reason that LD can't continue to run this car and take folks for rides, as long as he does it at IHRA or outlaw tracks. NHRA can't stop that. They can only prevent him from participating at their events with his legal car.

Actually I think that the inspection sticker was covered with tape! Now why would they try to conceal it? It doesn't make any logical sense to me. Peel the damn thing and none of this would be an issue.

https://www.powercruise.com/?country=drags&site=dragster&page=topfuel

From that website.


So in that case they'll only be running 330 feet due to insurance requirements.

And expired sticker is just that, expired.
Doug

Larry's side of the story on Competition Plus explains what happened very well. Larry is a stand up guy and his side of the story reflects that.

Danny

The only reason it is a bad idea is the NHRA didn't get their cut.. he wasn't trying to race with the sticker no matter how it came to be on the chassis..The NHRA is only concerned with h ow much money they can extort from you.. how else can you justify having to re certify something like a scatter shield every two years, I mean it just sits there and steel or aluminum don't deteriorate overtime..
So unless there has been something that happened to cause damage I see no need to recertify and if it has been damaged you are going to replace it anyway..

True, mostly. But, things get damaged. Dummies drill holes, cut and grind on stuff to make it fit. Parts get lost, etc. They want it looked at to verify that it still meets spec.

Isn't the back seat for the wife that tells you when to turn right or left?

The new Dodge Demon is banned as well.............
NOTHING going down the track without a current cert sticker!

Sarcasm, correct?

Welcome to the IHRA Larry!

Yes and those people will just buy another with a good sticker and modify it just like what they have now.. mine is just like it left the factory and will pass inspection theirs have a good sticker but would not pass inspection..so they are not really improving safety just increasing cost..

I have seen court cases where proof of anything didn't mean diddly. It is all about what a lawyer can convince a judge or jury of, or how a judge looks at it.

It once ment the car was certified but it was expired so not valid, they were not fooling any one. Does NHRA have a rule that the stickers must be removed after exparation?

No rule that I've seen. They also generally peel them off on site if the car was involved in any kind of accident. But I have not seen that happen so much lately either.

I have to wonder how many cars with expired certifications get to car shows, SIMA xcetera? It seems a little harsh on NHRAs part. It's not like he was trying to run it on one of their tracks.

And I have a car in the garage with expired belts, are they gonna come after me?
NHRA's handling of this shows them to be a cabal of petty tirants with huge egos. It seems somewhat familiar, no?

Ouch... That sucks