Denver: Melanie Troxel final report

Troxel Loses Close First-round Race at Denver

As far as she was concerned, Melanie Troxel's competitive day ended far too soon in the Mopar Mile-High Nationals at her hometown track of Bandimere Speedway.

A disappointed Troxel, who qualified the Gotham City Racing Dodge Charger R/T in second place, dropped her first-round Funny Car race against veteran driver Gary Densham in what was a tight 1000-foot skirmish. Densham lit the win light in 4.301 seconds at 286.80 mph to Troxel's 4.321 at 288.95 mph.

"It was a close race," she said. "We were trying to run conservatively and win the race, but the car ran slower and Densham stepped up and got around us."

Crew chief Brian Corradi said the car "was set up to run in the high 4.20-second to low 4.30-second range. It was a good race."

This was the first event in NHRA's annual Western Swing, three races in three weeks. Next up -- and at sea level -- is the Schuck's Auto Parts Nationals at Pacific Raceways in Seattle, July 18-20.

-credit: gcr