Troxel continues to climb in performance in Seattle

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2005 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 14 of 23
CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals
Pacific Raceways
Kent, Wash.
Race Dates: July 22-24, 2005


TROXEL CONTINUES TO CLIMB IN PERFORMANCE

KENT, Wash. (July 24, 2005) - Melanie Troxel continues to take the all-new
Skull Gear/Torco Race Fuels Top Fuel dragster she signed up to drive just
two weeks ago higher and higher in performance. The Denver native posted her
quickest elapsed time of these last two races in first round of eliminations
today for the CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals, a 4.612-second ET, despite
losing a cylinder at the finish.

This run at 316.23 mph did not, however, beat her opponent Doug Kalitta's
4.566/325.14, and No. 12 qualifier Troxel was out of the competition.

"We're definitely making progress," she said. "The 4.61 was the best run
we've made so far, and certainly the best run of the weekend. I think we
were expecting to run somewhere in the .50s. I dropped a cylinder out
somewhere past half-track, so that killed us a little bit on the ET. We
would have struggled to be faster than Kalitta's .56. We're making progress.
We're not quite there yet, but I think we're getting real close.

"I could see Kalitta out somewhere near half-track and then when it dropped
the cylinder he started pulling away. But I could see him until at least
half-track, so it was a good close race. We hoped that we would have had a
little bit more for him, but like I said, we're making progress."

Next up is the Fram-Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma,
Calif., July 29-31.