Troxel claims No. 11 in Gateway qualifying

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2006 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 12 of 23
O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals
Gateway International Raceway
Madison, Ill.
Race Date: June 23-25, 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Judy Stropus, 203-438-0501; cell 203-243-2438;
jstropus@earthlink.net

TROXEL CLAIMS NO. 11 SPOT IN ST. LOUIS QUALIFYING

MADISON, Ill. (June 24, 2006) - Top Fuel points leader Melanie Troxel
secured the No. 11 spot for the O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway
International Raceway today with a 4.692-second pass at 315.27 mph.

Troxel found herself outside of the field after two tire-smoking rounds in
hot and humid air on Friday (posting first a 13.007/82.43, then a
5.852/296.05). She earned her way into No. 13 in the third session by
establishing a 4.811/313.29 lap in the Skull Shine/Knoll Gas-Torco Race
Fuels dragster, then bettered that pass in the final round under the lights
(the 4.692/315.27).

"We didn't have a lot of data on this track, and the track itself was green
(fresh)," she said of the first two rounds. "That's why we get four passes
to work on it. It just took us a pass longer than we would have liked."

As for the final two qualifying sessions: "We knew the weather wasn't going
to get any worse today, and the bump spot wasn't particularly hard (to
beat), so we felt pretty good about getting in today," said the 33-year old
Colorado native. "That first session we were able to get in the field at No.
13, which isn't completely safe, but it gave us the opportunity to step it
up a little bit with the cooler weather in the last session.

"We feel good for Sunday's eliminations, although we might not have as many
good passes in the heat of the day as some (of the other teams), we feel
like we are on the right track and we'll be able to compete with anyone
tomorrow.

"Richard (Hogan, crew chief) and these Skull Shine guys have shown time
and time again that they will step it up on Sundays, so we'll go out
tomorrow and take one round at a time. You can't look too far ahead,"
she added.

She faces Hillary Will in the opening round of eliminations on Sunday.

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