Troxel races to quarters in Brainerd, ties Tony Schumacher for second in points

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2006 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 16 of 23
LUCAS OIL NHRA NATIONALS
Brainerd (Minn.) Int'l Raceway
Race Date: Aug. 11-13, 2006


BRAINERD, Minn. (Aug. 13, 2006) - Melanie Troxel breezed her way into
the quarterfinals of the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd
International Raceway today and demonstrated that the Skull Shine/Knoll
Gas-Torco Race Fuels Top Fuel dragster was at the top of its class when she
defeated J.R. Todd in the opening round with the second-best elapsed time of
the session of 4.562 seconds at 327.66 mph.

She again set the second-best ET one round later when she matched
up against Rod Fuller, clocking a 4.565/327.59 pass to Fuller's slower,
but winning 4.584/321.42. Fuller's reaction time of .082 of a second (.000
is perfect) gave him the holeshot win over Troxel, who launched with a .107
reaction time.

Points leader Doug Kalitta was defeated by Troxel's teammate Tony Schumacher
in the second round, so Troxel, second in points coming into this event,
actually gained a point after also out-qualifying him. She is now 81 points
behind Kalitta. Schumacher was on a tear today en route to the final round,
then lost to Brandon Bernstein. He is now tied with Troxel in second, both
with 1077 points.

"We had a real close race with Hot Rod (Fuller), and, unfortunately, when
you have those close races, they are going to be decided more times than not
by reaction time," said the Colorado native, who had led the point standings
through the first 12 events of the 2006 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. "I
felt like I left well, but it's one of those things that didn't show up in
the reaction times.

"We would much rather go up and lose a close race, than make a mistake.
We definitely had a very good and consistent race car here this (qualified
No. 5) weekend, so that feels good going into Memphis.

"We won't lose any ground in trying to catch Kalitta, which is good, but now
we're tied with Tony Schumacher. It's going to be a great rest of the
season, for sure," she said. "We're still in a great position to have a
shot at that championship, and we have a very consistent car. We just
have to stay where we are and try to take advantage of opportunities
when they come along."

Next up is the O'Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals in Memphis, Tenn., Aug.
18-20.

TOP FUEL POINT STANDINGS:
1. Doug Kalitta, 1158
2. Melanie Troxel, 1077
3. Tony Schumacher, 1077
4. Brandon Bernstein, 1042 (winner today)
5. Dave Grubnic, 934
6. Rod Fuller, 909
7. Larry Dixon, 859
8. Morgan Lucas, 758
9. Hillary Will, 710
10. Cory McClenathan, 708