Melanie Troxel wins her first NHRA Top Fuel title in Pomona

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2006 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
ROUND 1 OF 23
CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals
POMONA (CALIF.) RACEWAY
RACE DATE: FEB 9-12, 2006


POMONA, Calif. (Feb. 12, 2006) - Melanie Troxel put to rests all suggestions
that team orders existed at Don Schumacher Racing to when she defeated her
teammate and reigning Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher in the second round
of Top Fuel eliminations at the CARQUEST Auto Parts Winternationals. That
advanced her into the semifinals and eventually into her third career final
round, and ultimately rewarded her with her first Top Fuel win.

Without lane choice after qualifying No. 9 in the Skull Gear/Torco Race
Fuels Top Fuel dragster, she faced No. 8 qualifier Clay Millican in the
opening stanza. In a smoke-filled round for both, Troxel emerged the victor
(5.318/225.22), but with a car covered with oil and damaged parts.

Quick work by the DSR crew brought her back up to the line to face
Schumacher. Reaction times were nearly identical: .097 for Troxel, .101 for
Schumacher. It was neck-to-neck down the entire quarter-mile, but it was
Troxel first across the finish line with a winning 4.524/325.77, her
quickest ET of the weekend, to Schumacher's 4.530/321.96. Margin of victory:
.0103 of a second.

She dismissed Morgan Lucas in the semifinals with another stout run, a
4.553/324.12 to Lucas' 4.754/290.88.

The final round saw a match-up between Troxel and David Baca. Troxel left
him in the dust at the starting light as well as at the finish stripe with a
winning 4.582/321.65 to Baca's tire-smoking 8.677/91.43.

This marked Troxel's second straight final round, as she had lost to
Schumacher at the NHRA Finals here in November. She also snapped "The
Sarge's" string of 21-straight round wins.

"Being a runner-up (in November) is still a great finish," she said, "but we
wanted to come back and change that final round a little bit. It took the
winter to get everything sorted out right. The guys worked their butts back
at the shop to get this car right and they did a great job.

"They're a tough [team]. They're our teammates," she said of the U.S. Army
team. "They make us half the team that we are. But, we race heads-up at Don
Schumacher Racing, so we went up there, did our best. We knew sooner or
later we had to get a round on them and today was our day."

As for that first round: "We went out there and burned it up. A lot of times
when you put things back together you run into little problems, like
something wasn't put together right, and we went out and ran our best ET of
the day. The guys did a great job. Don Schumacher has given me a great
opportunity here. I can't say enough. We're just thrilled. This is just
incredible.

"My thinking was just to go out and hopefully win a race or two in the first
half of the season," she added. "I thought that that was maybe a little
lofty, but I thought it was a good goal to set out here for us. Richard
Hogan is a great tuner, great crew chief. He and Alan Johnson (Tony
Schumacher's crew chief) work together. What can you say about being
teammates with the U.S. Army team? It's incredible and the guys back at the
shop, the crew guys, are what make It what it is."

"I knew what kind of driver and what kind of a person Melanie was because I
had her in a car in 2000," said Schumacher. "Great person, great
personality, does a great job out here, and the sport and Melanie deserved
to be back out here together and I'm just tickled to be able to bring her
back out and have her come out and do what she loves to do and that's win
races and challenge for the championship."

Next up is the Checker Schuck's Kragen NHRA Nationals in Phoenix, Ariz.,
Feb. 24-26.

Troxel is, of course, the Top Fuel points leader.

TOP FUEL POINTS:
1. Melanie Troxel, 112
2. David Baca, 92
3. Morgan Lucas, 71
    Doug Herbert, 71
5. Tony Schumacher, 58

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