Troxel loses close one in Vegas first round

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2006 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 22 of 23
ACDELCO LAS VEGAS NHRA NATIONALS
The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Race Date: Oct. 27-29, 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

TROXEL LOSES CLOSE ONE IN VEGAS FIRST ROUND

LAS VEGAS (Oct. 29, 2006) - Melanie Troxel, No. 4 in NHRA POWERade Drag
Racing Series Top Fuel point standings, matched up against No. 5 in
points Rod Fuller in a marquee first-round match-up today in eliminations at
the ACDelco NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
It was close, but the spring event winner here and driver of the Skull
Shine/Knoll Gas-Torco Race Fuels Top Fuel dragster lost the contest to
Fuller on a holeshot advantage.

Troxel ran a quicker 4.567-second lap at 328.70 mph to Fuller's slower,
but winning 4.569/325.92. The difference was at the starting line, where
Troxel launched with a more than respectable .081 reaction time (.000 is
perfect) to Fuller's impressive .049, resulting in a margin of victory of
.0301 of a second.

"It was a very close race," said Troxel, who last week was named Sportswoman
of the Year by the Women's Sports Foundation. "Our 4.56 (-second elapsed
time) would have been quick enough to beat most of the people out here.
Unfortunately, 'Hot Rod' really pulled one out by having a .049 light. I had
a good light, but he just had an exceptional light.

"It's disappointing, but as a team, this Skull Shine/Knoll Gas-Torco
Race Fuels squad will be OK. We know we went up there and did a good
job.

"Being the second pair up, and not really knowing what the track will
hold, you have to be a little conservative with the tune-up, so, all in
all, I think we did a good job running the .56." Her best qualifying lap was
a 4.558.

"We got through the spot where we've been smoking the tires early," she
added. "We probably could have been more aggressive through there, but with
almost smoking the tires on the last qualifying run, we thought it was
smarter to back it down a little bit. The car went down the track and
Richard (Hogan, crew chief) did a great job putting together a good run."

Troxel holds onto fourth place in the Top Fuel point standings, with one
event remaining.

Next, Troxel travels to Pomona, Calif., for the Automobile Club of
Southern California NHRA Finals, the site where she won her first Top
Fuel race to open the 2006 NHRA season.

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