Melanie Troxel goes to her straight final round in Phoenix, maintains points lead

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2006 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 2 of 23
CHECKER SCHUCK'S KRAGEN NHRA NATIONALS
FIREBIRD INTL RACEWAY
CHANDLER, Ariz.
Race Date: Feb. 24-26, 2006


CHANDLER, Ariz. (Feb. 26, 2006) - Despite a loss of 25 points for two
oildowns today, Melanie Troxel held on to her Top Fuel points lead after
reaching her third straight final round, and second consecutive in the 2006
NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.

Troxel and the Skull Gear/Torco Race Fuels Top Fuel dragster overcame a huge
engine explosion in the first round of eliminations for the Checker Schuck's
Kragen Nationals to send packing UPS driver Bob Vandergriff, and then
another, more minor oildown to defeat David Grubnic in the second round.

The semifinal round saw Larry Dixon fall to Troxel when both cars lost
traction and Troxel recovered first to take the win with a 5.358/243.99 lap
to Dixon's losing 5.674/297.88.

It looked like it might turn into another Troxel vs. Schumacher final round
(Troxel lost to Schumacher at the 2005 NHRA Finals in Pomona), but
Schumacher faltered in the semifinals, handing the win to Rod Fuller.

In the final round, Troxel trailed Fuller at the starting lights by .023 of
a second, as both cars took off down the quarter-mile in close formation.
But back-to-back wins were not in the cards today for the red-hot Troxel, as
she lost by .0499 of a second to Fuller (4.563/321.42 for Fuller,
4.589/318.92 for Troxel).

Troxel was not upset with the loss as she eyes the bigger picture.
"It's a little bit of a disappointment not winning the race," she said, "but
I feel really good that we have a very consistent race car. We're going
rounds, and I think that is important. You have to win some races along the
way, but you have to be consistent and go rounds if you are going to compete
for a championship."

With 183 points, Troxel, who left after winning Pomona with a 20-point lead
while Fuller lost in the second round there, maintains her lead over
second-place Fuller by 14 points.

The loss of 25 points hurts, she admits, but she is not placing any blame.
"It's not anybody's mistake," she said. "It's just a product of the rev
limiter the NHRA has put on these cars. When you get into that rev limiter a
lot, it drops so many holes (cylinders) that the engine tends to blow up.
It's kind of a product of the way we run the car and the way it interacts
with the rev limiter. It's definitely something we'll have to stay on top of
because we can't afford to keep doing that; it could add up."

Sunday's finals at Firebird International Raceway had an interesting
spin, as Troxel's husband Tommy Johnson, Jr. won his first Funny Car race of
the 2006 season, matching Troxel's number of wins for the year.

"I didn't want to watch it," she said of his final-round race, which took
place in front of her as she waited for her final round. "I didn't want to
get distracted. But, I couldn't resist, so I peaked and watched. I saw him
win, then I closed my eyes real quick and kept focusing on what we were
doing. That was one distraction I couldn't resist. There's plenty of season
left. We both would like to win in the same race. That would be really
cool."

Troxel heads for the third race of the season, the ACDelco NHRA
Nationals in Gainesville, Fla., on March 16-19 with an upbeat attitude. "The
Skull Gear guys are doing a great job. With all the parts we have been
going through and tearing stuff up, to be where we are is awesome. It's
pretty impressive. We all have really high morale, and we are very
excited for the Gatornationals."

TOP FUEL POINT STANDINGS:

1. Melanie Troxel, 183
2. Rod Fuller, 169
3. Tony Schumacher, 136
4. Larry Dixon, 131
5. David Baca, 124

***