Richmond: Melanie Troxel Saturday notes

Troxel runs 4.047 seconds, will start fourth at Richmond
R2B2 Racing Funny Car team keeps impoving

Dinwiddie/Richmond, Va., Oct. 11, 2008 -- Melanie Troxel, Brian Corradi, and Mark Oswald showed just how much progress they've made in the performance of the R2B2 Racing Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car Saturday when Troxel posted the team's quickest 1000-foot elapsed time, 4.047 seconds, in her final qualifying attempt for Sunday's Virginia Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park.

Her 309.98-mph speed in the Friday night session still stands as the fastest of the event -- and of the new 1,000-foot era.

Three drivers notched 4.041-second times on a near-perfect day of racing at VMP.

Crew chiefs Corradi and Oswald were responsible for another consistent qualifying effort that also included times of 4.094 and 4.111 seconds. It was the latter time, said Troxel, that was responsible for the 4.047.

"The 4.047 was the number we were trying to run in (Saturday's) first session, but the motor dropped a cylinder," she said. "The guys told me that our car was going to go out and put up a good number. We were excited to get back out there in the second session to see what we could do.

"We've known for a couple of races this car has been coming on strong, and we're happy about our recent performance going into race day. We definitely think we have a car that can go rounds."

Gary Scelzi (No. 13, 4.081 seconds) is Troxel's first-round foe.

-credit: R2B2