Denver: Melanie Troxel Saturday summary

TROXEL AND SKULL RACE GEAR DRAGSTER QUALIFY 10TH AT MOPAR MILE-HIGH NATIONALS

MORRISON, Colo. (July 16, 2005) - Melanie Troxel and her new Skull Race Gear Top Fuel Dragster team from Don Schumacher Racing and tuned by Richard Hogan hit the quarter-mile for the first time this weekend and qualified solidly in 10th for the 26th annual Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway.

Troxel, who has not competed in a Top Fuel dragster since 2003, posted her best qualifying pass of 4.847 at 281.19 mph in the final round. The former Littleton, Colo., resident will face Doug Herbert in the first round of the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series eliminations on Sunday.

"Not exactly what we were looking for," she said, following that pass, "but we made it to the finish line and have a decent number going into race day."

"I had a two-year break from driving a Top Fuel car, so I had a lot of stuff going on trying to get my head right and focused on what was going on with the Skull Race Gear dragster."

"I can't say enough about this whole team, including the U.S. Army guys and all the new Skull Gear guys. It says a lot about everybody over here at Don Schumacher Racing. I have a lot of confidence in the team, the car, and Richard Hogan's tuning. And I think if we can just improve a little bit off of this last qualifying session, we should be good to go on Sunday."

"Obviously we don't have a perfect car yet, but I think that gives us an opportunity to be a little bit of a spoiler on Sunday. People don't know what to expect from us."

"We are learning so much every pass. With a few breaks and a few more passes we could be right there with everyone else."