Bristol: Melanie Troxel Friday summary

TROXEL NO. 1 QUALIFIER FRIDAY IN BRISTOL

BRISTOL, Tenn. (April 28, 2006) - Top Fuel points leader Melanie Troxel is No. 1 qualifier following two of four qualifying sessions at the O'Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway.

Troxel posted a 4.539-second elapsed time at 324.05 mph in the last pairing in the second session tonight following a long delay due to a major one-car crash involving Cory McClenathan. McClenathan climbed out of the car under his own power, was taken to a local hospital, treated and released.

Temperatures cooled down by the time the final pair ran, resulting in a strong pass for Troxel.

"I was already strapped in the car so I didn't see [the crash] first hand," she said, "but I did see a couple of the replays. I'm just glad to know that Cory is fine. That is tough when you see that. That's kind of the last thought going through your mind before you get up there, but the job you have is to be able to block out all those distractions.

"It's unfortunate for them, but we know they'll be back out here and we're glad to see Cory is OK."

As for her lap, "It wasn't a perfect run. The car was moving around down there a lot, but that's something we kind of struggled to do in the past, not just here. We struggled to make those big runs on Friday night. We haven't really qualified all that well. It's kind of a change for us."

Two more qualifying sessions are scheduled for Saturday before final eliminations on Sunday.

-dsr-