NHRA - Troxel's Indy Revelry Includes Winning Ideas
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jay Wells
(704) 662-3525 – Office
(704) 281-5678 – Cell
Torco.com
TROXEL’S INDY REVELRY INCLUDES WINNING IDEAS
CLERMONT, Ind. (Aug. 28) – Melanie Troxel, driver of the Vietnam Veterans POW/MIA Top Fuel dragster, has some winning ideas of her own and at this weekend’s running of the 53rd annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at O’Reilly Raceway Park. She wants to unite one celebration on Friday into a bigger one on Monday.
Besides the biggest drag race of the year, Troxel will also observe her birthday on Friday. Of all the gifts she could receive, there’s only one that she really wants -- a victory in NHRA’s most prestigious race.
“It’s the biggest event of the year,” said an exhilarated Troxel. “I would say short of winning a championship, that’s the biggest achievement you can have for your season. I hope that we’re at a place where both cars are running strong enough to be serious contenders.
“I’ve been coming to this race since I was a kid. It’s my birthday weekend and I remember always celebrating it at the Nationals. We never really had a birthday dinner or anything like that, but just celebrated in the pits at this event. I have many memories of this race and now I live here. It actually makes the race so much more enjoyable with the fact that we’re home for the next two to three weeks. It definitely takes the stress off of being on the road.”
One of Troxel’s fondest Labor Day race memories was in 1987 when her father, Mike, won the classic in the Top Alcohol dragster division.
“I never went to a race my dad won,” Troxel remembers forlornly. “The first National event my dad ever won was Indy and it was special that his first win just so happened to be the biggest race of the year. I remember being at home and the family calling saying they had won. Of course, I thought they were joking and teasing me with the news. That was the beginning of his success in Top Alcohol dragster.”
At ‘The Big Go’, it’s performance that counts and just because Troxel may not be a championship contender for the remainder of 2007, it’s full speed ahead at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals for the Vietnam Veterans POW/MIA team to continue in their triumphant ways looking at building momentum for 2008.
“When we go racing, the big agenda and our No. 1 goal is to win races,” she said. “Really, we don’t have a shot at the championship, but we’re going out there with the same mentality to win races, so I’m still very excited about that. Sure, it’s disappointing not being in the race for the championship. Certainly, it’s comforting to know that we can go out and have cars that are capable of winning races. Maybe for the first time being able to capitalize on the two-car concept and that’s pretty exciting.”
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The start of the 53rd annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals begins at the O’Reilly Raceway Park on Friday, August 31, with an opening-event qualifying attempt at 7:30 p.m. On Saturday, there will be two qualifying sessions starting at 2:45 p.m. (EDT) with a second session at 7:30 p.m. Sunday's time trials start at 12:30 p.m. for the nitro classes followed by a second session at 3:40 p.m. The race starts promptly at 11 a.m. on Labor Day Monday, September 3.
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TORCO RACING DRIVER NOTES:
Melanie Troxel has three Top Fuel victories (07 St. Louis, 06 Pomona1 and Las Vegas1) after 13 final round appearances. She finished fourth in the 2006 NHRA Top Fuel Point standings with 1,471 points. She established a new NHRA record with her impressive drive into the 2006 season after racing to five consecutive final rounds, taking two wins along the way. That led to two ESPY nominations for Best Female Athlete of the year and Driver of the year. Honored by the Billie Jean King Sports Foundation as“2006 Sports Woman of the Year”.
Troxel’s quickest elapsed time is 4.458 seconds, set on Sept. 23, 2005 at the Texas Motorplex. She sped to his fastest top speed of 332.51 mph on Feb. 10 in her final round of qualifying at the 2007 CarQuest Winternationals in Pomona, California.
She has won three Technicoat low qualifier awards in her career. Her first on May 4, 2006 at the Bristol Dragway recording a time 4.539 seconds, May 26, 2006 at Heartland Park Topeka setting the pace with her run of 4.567 seconds and at the Bandimere Speedway, her home track, on July 14, 2007 when she ran a time of 4.610 seconds. Melanie Troxel’s first Top Fuel event came behind the wheel of the Jerry Darien-owned dragster at the 2000 AutoZone Winternationals at the Auto Club Raceway in Pomona. DOB: August 31, 1972.
MAC TOOLS U.S. NATIONALS
TELEVISION ADVISORY
(ALL TIMES EASTERN – ALL PROGRAMS ON ESPN2 HD)
QUALIFYING HIGHLIGHTS
Sunday, September 2
12:30 A.M. – 1:30 A.M.
NHRA RACE DAY
Sunday, September 2
11:00 A.M. – 11:30 A.M.
QUALIFYING COVERAGE
Sunday, September 2
2:00 P.M. – 5:30 P.M.
QUALIFYING COVERAGE
Monday, September 3
12:00 A.M. – 1:00 A.M.
FINAL ROUND COVERAGE
(Early Edition)
Monday, September 3
12:00 P.M. – 3:00 P.M.
FINAL ROUND COVERAGE
(Results Edition)
Monday, September 3
7:00 P.M. – 10:00 P.M.
Encore Performance
Thursday, Sept. 6
4:00 A.M. – 6:00 A.M
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Jay Wells
(704) 662-3525 - Office
(704) 281-5678 - Cell
Lucas Oil Racing
jaywell1@ix.netcom.com
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