Sonoma: Melanie Troxel Friday notes

Melanie Troxel's Best Qualifying Run Beats Her Husband; Puts Her 10th

SONOMA, Calif., July 25, 2008 -- It was only a Friday night qualifying run, but Melanie Troxel was paired against her husband, Tommy Johnson Jr., and she reached the finish line before he did. She was timed in 4.156 seconds at 297.29 mph in the opening day of the FRAM Autolite Nationals at Infineon Raceway.

The elapsed time put Troxel and the Gotham City Racing Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car into 10th place going into Saturday's final two qualifying runs.

"That was the second pass I made against him," said Troxel. "In the first one I crossed the centerline. I'm much happier with this result."

She began the day with a 4.438-second 1000-foot run at 227.80 mph. "The car spun the tires pretty hard down near the finish line, but so did a lot of other cars. I knew the track would come around later in the second session. It wasn't a great run, but it was a good solid run.

"We feel good going into Saturday in the No. 10 position. A cooler session Saturday would be great for us. We'd love to have another crack at getting closer to the top spot. We learn from every pass we make and hopefully we can step up tomorrow morning."

-credit: gcr