NHRA
Reading: Melanie Troxel preview
Troxel has sights set on moving up in Reading MOHNTON, Pa. (Sept. 13, 2006) - Melanie Troxel has has her sights set on a return to the top of the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Top Fuel point standings following her fall to fourth place after ...
Edited: Dec 11, 2006, 4:18 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Troxel has sights set on moving up in Reading
MOHNTON, Pa. (Sept. 13, 2006) - Melanie Troxel has has her sights set on a return to the top of the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Top Fuel point standings following her fall to fourth place after leading through the season's first 12 races.
As this weekend's Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway begins the final string of five events left in the season, the driver of the Skull Shine/Knoll Gas-Torco Race Fuels Top Fuel dragster is ready to make that move.
A mid-season struggle through the heat of summer was a setback for Troxel, who is now 140 points out of the lead, held by Doug Kalitta, and just 86 markers behind her teammate Tony Schumacher, in second. Right in front of her is Brandon Bernstein, 44 points ahead. It's going to be an exciting battle to the finish.
Last year's event here was a turning point for Troxel, her seventh of 2005 after joining Don Schumacher Racing midway through the season. She earned her highest qualifying position to date, No. 5, then ended the season with two No. 2s and one No. 3 in the last three events. She hopes this weekend will mark another turnaround.
The cooler weather expected at Maple Grove could make the difference for Troxel, who's had early-round losses in the last eight events. "We have five more races and Reading is known for cool weather and quick elapsed times, so it's always a big race," she says.
"It's also one that Tommy (Johnson Jr., husband and Funny Car driver) and I look forward to coming to. There is definitely something special about Reading in the fall.
"And when you add to that the fact that we're still in the hunt for the points chase, it becomes an enjoyable race.
"We haven't really lived up to our potential lately, but we're fortunate to still have a shot at the championship. But we are really going to need to see a big change - not so much in our performance, but in the results. The Skull Shine car is running good; we just don't seem to have the outcome we're looking for.
"We know the track conditions will be great; we just need to get the job done and really make a big resurgence in order to pull ourselves a little tighter in the points and have a good shot at the title.
"Anything can happen out here. Tony (Schumacher) is running well right now, but we've seen that team struggle earlier in the year. They could stumble, but we can't worry too much about what anybody else is doing right now. We have to go out and make the most of our own opportunities. It doesn't have as much to do with what everybody else is doing as it does missed opportunities on our part."
-credit: dsr
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Muehlner Motorsport Monza race notes
Next article Ryan Villipoto - 2006 Lites champion
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Tony Schumacher
Capps, Schumacher score their first wins of 2018
NHRA
NHRA
Bristol
Capps, Schumacher score their first wins of 2018
Schumacher unconcerned by new crew chief’s lack of Top Fuel experience
NHRA
NHRA
Schumacher unconcerned by new crew chief’s lack of Top Fuel experience
Hagan, Brown, Enders lead first day of NHRA Spring Training
NHRA
NHRA
Hagan, Brown, Enders lead first day of NHRA Spring Training
Latest news
Ryan Blaney gets sweet redemption after 'nightmares' following 2024 Homestead loss
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
13 min
Ryan Blaney gets sweet redemption after 'nightmares' following 2024 Homestead loss
IndyCar 2026 season review: Dale Coyne Racing
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 23 min
IndyCar 2026 season review: Dale Coyne Racing
Noah Gragson apologizes to Daniel Suarez for spinning him at Homestead
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
36 min
Noah Gragson apologizes to Daniel Suarez for spinning him at Homestead
Ex-DTM champion Guven fails to clear Formula E license hurdle: What is Porsche doing?
DTM
DTM DTM 42 min
Ex-DTM champion Guven fails to clear Formula E license hurdle: What is Porsche doing?
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe