NHRA NEWS: Troxel Nominated for 2 ESPY Awards
<http://www.nhra.com/> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: NHRA Communications, (626) 914-4761 Attached: Victory photo of Melanie (high-res copy available on request); ESPY Logo More photos: Available at http://media.nhra.com NHRA'S MELANIE TROXEL NOMINATED FOR "BEST FEMALE ATHLETE" ESPY SEASON-LONG POWERADE SERIES POINTS LEADER ALSO NOMINATED FOR "BEST DRIVER" AWARD; BECOMES FOURTH NHRA DRIVER NOMINATED FOR AN ESPY, FIRST NOMINATED FOR TWO AWARDS GLENDORA, Calif. (June 26, 2006) - NHRA Top Fuel driver Melanie Troxel, the season-long NHRA POWERade Series championship leader with two victories in seven final round appearances, has been nominated for two ESPY Awards including the prestigious Best Female Athlete award, it was announced today. Troxel becomes the fourth NHRA POWERade Series driver to be nominated for an ESPY and the first to be nominated in two categories - she was also nominated in the Best Driver category. "This is definitely a dream season for me," said Troxel, who will compete in the balloting for Best Female Athlete with LPGA golfer Annika Sorenstam, WNBA standout Sheryl Swoopes and Olympic Gold Medal winning Snowboarder Hannah Teter. "I appreciate the support of all the NHRA drag-racing fans out there who have followed my career and who continue to be my biggest fans." The ESPY Awards, for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly, were created by ESPN in 1993. Sports fans can vote for Troxel and other sports heroes in each of 36 different categories via an online poll at http://www.espn.go.com/espy2006 Troxel, 33, set an NHRA record for the most consecutive final round appearances (five) to open a season in Top Fuel. The quickest (4.458 seconds) and fastest (331.04 mph) female racer in NHRA history, she is trying to join legendary Shirley Muldowney as the only women in NHRA history to win a Top Fuel world championship title. Muldowney earned three during her driving career. Earlier this year Troxel beat out NASCAR's Jimmie Johnson and IRL's Helio Castroneves to win the prestigious DRIVER OF THE YEAR first quarter award, which is voted on by a distinguished panel of auto racing journalists. It is the first time in the 40-year history of the DRIVER OF THE YEAR award that a woman has won the quarterly or year-end vote. Troxel will get a second chance to pit her impressive credentials against best drivers across all forms of auto racing as she will be joined on the ESPY Best Driver ballot by NASCAR drivers Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart and IRL drivers Sam Hornish and Dan Wheldon. "It's a tremendous honor to be considered for an ESPY award as best driver," Troxel said. "To be even nominated among the outstanding racing drivers on the list is something I could never have dreamed of achieving." Troxel, a Denver native who now calls Avon, Ind. home, joins John Force, Tony Pedregon and Greg Anderson as the only professional drag racers ever to be nominated for ESPY Awards and all were nominated in the Best Driver category. Anderson, the three-time defending Pro Stock world champion (2003-'05) and 2004 DRIVER OF THE YEAR was nominated in 2005. Pedregon, the 2003 Funny Car world champion, was nominated in 2004. Force, a 13-time Funny Car world champion and winner of an NHRA-record 120 events, was nominated in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003. Past ESPY Best Driver winners include stock car racers Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, a three-time winner, Bobby Labonte and Dale Jarrett, and open wheel drivers Jimmy Vasser, Al Unser Jr., Nigel Mansell and Michael Schumacher. Past ESPY Best Female Athlete winners include Annika Sorenstam, Mia Hamm, Serena and Venus Williams, Marion Jones, Julie Krone and Bonnie Blair, among others. The 2006 ESPY winners will be announced during the ESPY Awards at the spectacular Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles on July 12. The ESPYs will be televised on ESPN and ESPN Deportes on July 16 at 9 p.m. ET, preceded by the ESPY Red Carpet Special on ESPN News on July 12 at 7 p.m. ET. The ESPYs will be hosted by cycling great Lance Armstrong, the first athlete ever to host the show. Melanie Troxel, 2006 Highlights: * Season-long NHRA POWERade Series Top Fuel world championship points leader * Named the first quarter DRIVER OF THE YEAR by a distinguished panel of auto racing journalists, beating out NASCAR's Jimmie Johnson and IRL's Helio Castroneves. * She is the first woman to be selected as a quarterly winner for the prestigious DRIVER OF THE YEAR in the 40-year history of the award * Set NHRA record for most final rounds to open a season (five) * Has advanced to seven final rounds in 12 starts * Has earned two victories: CARQUEST Winternationals at Pomona, Calif. and SummitRacing.com Nationals, Las Vegas * She has earned two No. 1 qualifying positions: O'Reilly Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol, Tenn. and the O'Reilly Summer Nationals at Topeka, Kan. * She is one of eight women in NHRA history to earn a national event victory in a professional category * She is one of six women in NHRA history to earn a victory in Top Fuel * She is the quickest and fastest woman in NHRA history with a career-best time of 4.458 seconds, and a career-best speed of 331.04 mph Melanie Troxel, Career Highlights: * Named the NHRA Auto Club Road to the Future Award winner in 2000, which recognizes a young driver with a promising future in the sport * Became one of 39 women to win an NHRA national event in any category (including sportsman) when she won two Top Alcohol Dragster races in 1999 (Seattle and Topeka) * In her professional career she has two victories and seven runner-up finishes * Entering the 2006 season, she had earned Top Fuel runner-up finishes at Dallas in 2000 and Pomona, Calif. in 2005 Melanie Troxel, Notable: * She is married to Tommy Johnson Jr., who drives a Funny Car in NHRA POWERade Series competition * She is the daughter of the late Mike Troxel, a former NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster competitor in the 1980s * She drives the Skull Shine/Torco Race Fuels dragster, fielded by Schumacher Racing and owned by Don Schumacher Past ESPY Best Female Athlete winners: 2005 - Annika Sorenstam, golf 2004 - Diana Taurasi, basketball 2003 - Serena Williams, tennis 2002 - Venus Williams, tennis 2001 - Marion Jones, track and field 2000 - Mia Hamm, soccer 1999 - Chamique Holdsclaw, basketball 1998 - Mia Hamm, soccer 1997 - Amy Van Dyken, swimmer 1996 - Rebecca Lobo, basketball 1995 - Bonnie Blair, speed skater 1994 - Julie Krone, jockey 1993 - Monica Seles, tennis Past ESPY Best Driver winners: 2005 - Michael Schumacher, F1 2004 - Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR 2003 - Tony Stewart, NASCAR 2002 - Michael Schumacher, F1 2001 - Bobby Labonte, NASCAR 2000 - Dale Jarrett, NASCAR 1999 - Jeff Gordon, NASCAR 1998 - Jeff Gordon, NASCAR 1997 - Jimmy Vassar, IRL 1996 - Jeff Gordon, NASCAR 1995 - Al Unser Jr., IRL 1994 - Nigel Mansell, F1 1993 - Nigel Mansell, F1 -30-