Melanie Troxel Denver Final Report

Bandimere Speedway

Troxel trimmed from Denver trophy picture early

Melanie Troxel's homecoming weekend was shorter than she liked after falling in the first round of Sunday's Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway.

Melanie Troxel aboard her In-n-Out Burger Toyota Camry

Photo by: Ted Rossino

Troxel and the In-N-Out Burger Toyota Funny Car lost to Matt Hagan by .005 seconds. Hagan ran a 4.373 second pass at 273.94 mph while Troxel crossed the line in 4.392 seconds at 282.84 mph.

"We were trying to run in the high 4.20 second range," Troxel said. "(Crew chief) Aaron Brooks was disappointed when it went in the high 30s, especially when Hagan's guys left the doors open for us to get a round win."

Troxel's pass was clean through the full 1,000 feet, the first time that happened all weekend. She said that if the In-N-Out Burger team would have started with a pass like her elimination run, the story of the weekend would have been much different.

"I don't think very many people made it down that left lane like we did," Troxel said. "The fact we went down the track was a positive and an improvement. We just figured things out just a little too late.

"We're a little disappointed, but it wasn't a terrible round loss. We didn't beat ourselves or smoke the tires. On a day like today, in tricky track conditions, that's half the battle."