Larry Dixon Jr. it is.

One of the most hotly-speculated seats in all of American motorsports was filled on Monday, when Santa Maria’s Alan Johnson announced that Dixon, a two-time former NHRA Top Fuel champion, would drive his Top Fuel entry for the 2009 NHRA season and beyond.

Johnson is returning to team ownership after having served as the crew chief for the Top Fuel entry of Tony Schumacher, who has won each of the last five NHRA Top Fuel titles.

Johnson entered into a partnership with Al-Anabi Racing, owned by His Highness Sheikh Khalid Bin Hamad Al Thani, a member of the ruling family of the Middle East nation of Qatar, a major U.S. ally in the region. After signing Del Worsham to drive Johnson/Al-Anabi Funny Car earlier this year, Johnson set about finding a pilot for the Top Fuel entry.

“When I started thinking about who I wanted in the (Top Fuel) cockpit back in the fall, Larry Dixon was among the first drivers I considered,” Johnson said in a press release. “A two-time champion is a great asset, but I knew there would be obstacles for Larry to overcome to make it happen.”

Another announcement on Friday was that Jason McCullough would be joining Johnson/Al-Anabi as the crew chief for Dixon’s car, allowing Johnson to serve as owner and tuning advisor for both Dixon and Worsham’s cars.

Dixon spent the last 20 seasons as an employee — including 14 as a driver — for legendary driver and owner Don “The Snake” Prudhomme, winning the division titles in 2002 and ’03, the years before the Schumacher-Johnson reign began. Dixon had a contract with Prudhomme for 2009, but bought out the deal to sign with Johnson; Pruhdomme signed rookie Spencer Massey to fill Dixon’s former seat.

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“It’s nice that Larry and Don were able to work things out between them so that Larry could take advantage of this opportunity,” Johnson said. “I appreciate Don Prudhomme’s willingness to work with Larry, and we certainly wish him well with (Massey).”

As for Dixon, a move to the Johnson/Al-Anabi camp is more than a change of pace.

“I’m very excited and looking forward to this opportunity and a new chapter in my career,” Dixon said. “I had a great time in my 20 years at Prudhomme Racing, and I am thankful for the opportunities I had in that time. Now I’m ready to start this new chapter in my life; it’s a wonderful opportunity, and I feel very blessed to have the ability to take care of my family for the long haul.”

With a new team being put together, Dixon said that he’s not expecting to immediately garner the same results that Johnson has managed with Schumacher in the last 5 1/2 seasons.

“It’s a new team, and everybody will be in a new position.,” he said. “It could take us a while to gel as a team, but everyone on this team has won at least one championship in previous ventures so I’d like to think we can hit the ground running.”

The 37-year-old McCullough served as Johnson’s assistant the last six seasons with Don Schumacher Racing. McCullough is the son of Ed “The Ace” McCullough, current crew chief for Ron Capps’ Funny Car in the Schumacher camp.

McCullough, who has been friends with Dixon since his teenager days, has a specific goal for the team in his first job as main crew chief.

“Our goal is to return to the level of excellence we all became accustomed to in our Army Team days,” he said. “When we get there, we hope to have similar results. We definitely have our work cut out for us because everything we have and are getting is new. We are truly building this team from the ground up. It’s exciting; it’s a once in a lifetime experience.”

Dixon was pleased with the choice of McCullough as his tuner.

“To think that I started my career at the same place and time as Jason, and now we’re together as driver and crew chief of a top fuel team is amazing,” Dixon said. “We never imagined this would happen, but I’m looking forward to being able to give him his first win as a crew chief, hopefully sooner rather than later.”

The team announced earlier this week that it will set up its headquarters will be based in the Indianapolis suburb of Brownsburg, Indiana, which has a growing group of NHRA and Indy Racing League teams based in the area.

December 20, 2008