SO, LESS FILLING OR TASTES GREAT? DIXON WINS SHOOTOUT, HAS EDGE IN BEER WAR.

Byline: Steve Ramirez Staff Writer

POMONA - Nothing has changed.

Kenny Bernstein might have exited the driver's seat in favor of son Brandon, but the ``beer wars'' between Bernstein's Budweiser team and Larry Dixon's Miller Lite squad is alive and well.

Dixon gained the early edge Saturday after beating the younger Bernstein to win the $100,000 Budweiser Shootout in front of a near-capacity crowd at Fairplex.

The Van Nuys product's second consecutive victory in the special event highlighted the final day of qualifying for today's 43rd Winternationals, which also included veteran Doug Kalitta taking the top spot in Top Fuel with a stout 4.482-second pass at 332.18 mph. Other top qualifiers were Tim Wilkerson in Funny Car and Greg Stanfield in Pro Stock.

``You have no idea how important it is when these two cars race,'' said Dixon, the defending series champion ``It puts a lot of pressure on you to do well.

``I had the best my best (reaction time) of the weekend, and I still got left on. Brandon is going to be strong.''

But Dixon was a little stronger Saturday. After defeating Southern California natives Doug Herbert and Tony Schumacher en route to the final, he ripped off a solid 4.558-second pass at 324.59 mph to nip Bernstein by a mere 23 inches at the finish line.

``I didn't feel any pressure,'' said Bernstein, who ran a 4.574 at 323.89 in the final. ``I just knew I had to do my job and do the best I could.

``Obviously, it was one (heck) of a drag race. (Crew chief) Tim Richards really stepped on it for the final. We just came up a little bit short.''

Dixon now will attempt to double up by winning today's 43rd Winternationals. If he does, he gets a $50,000 bonus for winning both events.

``You're excited (about winning Saturday) and you show emotions, but you still have to race (today),'' Dixon said. ``We are pleased with the outcome, but this doesn't guarantee anything for (today).''

Kalitta should be the clear favorite for today's season opener after the second sub-4.50 run at this historic quarter-mile. Andrew Cowin, who failed to qualify Saturday, was the No. 1 qualifier at this event last season after 4.490 pass.

``I was just happy to get a good run down the right lane,'' said Kalitta, who gets No. 16 Melanie Troxel in the first round. ``The car left good. It really hooked up and pulled real hard.

``It's been a while since we ran under 4.5. It was a pretty exciting run. We've been changing the car around quite a bit. We've been all over the board, and we're really hoping for some consistency for (today's) event.''

Two-time defending International Hot Rod Association champion Clay Millican, who was the top qualifier Friday, is second and faces Jim Head in the first round, which is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.

Cory McClenathan qualified 13th with a 4.677 and faces Bernstein (4.564). Dixon, who is third, faces Robert Reehl (4.687).

Wilkerson, who ran a 4.759 on Thursday, held onto the No. 1 spot in Funny Car and faces No. 16 Frank Pedregon (4.895).

Other first-round matchups include No. 5 Gary Scelzi (4.790) against No. 12 Ron Capps (4.862); 12-time champion John Force (4.809), who is seventh, against No. 10 Tommy Johnson Jr. (4.855)' and No. 2 Tony Pedregon (4.766) against No. 15 Dean Skuza (4.889).

Stanfield took the No. 1 spot in Pro Stock with a 6.772 at 203.77 mph. Six-time series champion Warren Johnson is second at 6.775 with Darrell Alderman third at 6.779. The field is the quickest in Pro Stock history with No. 16 Brad Jeter at 6.811.

NHRA WINTERNATIONALS

Where: Pomona Raceway at Fairplex

Time: Gates open 7 a.m.; engines start 9:30 a.m., prerace ceremonies start 10 a.m., and final eliminations start 11 a.m.

TV: ESPN2, 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

Van Nuys' Larry Dixon brings his dragster in Saturday after winning the Budweiser Shootout.

Will Lester/Staff Photographer

Box:

NHRA WINTERNATIONALS (see text)