Troxel’s Car Loses Traction in Opening Round at Sonoma
<img src="http://www.nitromater.com/gallery/files/5/m_troxel_508502.jpg" alt="m_troxel_508502" align="right"borders="0"/>
SONOMA, Calif., July 27, 2008 – The traditional NHRA Western Swing ended much too soon for Melanie Troxel and the Gotham City Racing Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car team Sunday in the opening round of the FRAM Autolite Nationals at Infineon Raceway.
With it came the reality they are out of the hunt for a top 10 POWERade Series berth and a position in the Countdown to the Championship.
Troxel’s Funny Car lost traction past the 330-foot mark and spun the tires, opening the door for Jerry Toliver to get the round win in 4.156 seconds at 299.60 mph. Troxel finished in 4.986 seconds at 176.72 mph.
“It was probably going to be a pret ty decent run, but I let the car get out of the groove and it smoked the tires,” lamented Troxel, who is 14th, 509 points. “It’s funny. Sometimes you feel like you are in a hole and no matter what you do, you can’t get back out.
“Unfortunately, that probably ends our hopes of getting into the top 10, but I think we have a lot of season left. We need to definitely keep working on growing as a team and making sure we are exactly where we need to be for the beginning of next year.”
The team has been on tour for successive races in Denver , Seattle and Sonoma and the crew members are looking forward to getting back to their Brownsburg, Ind. , shop where they’ll regroup and begin preparing for the next even t, the Lucas Oil Nationals, Aug. 8-10, at Brainerd , Minn.
<img src="http://www.nitromater.com/gallery/files/5/m_troxel_508502.jpg" alt="m_troxel_508502" align="right"borders="0"/>
SONOMA, Calif., July 27, 2008 – The traditional NHRA Western Swing ended much too soon for Melanie Troxel and the Gotham City Racing Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car team Sunday in the opening round of the FRAM Autolite Nationals at Infineon Raceway.
With it came the reality they are out of the hunt for a top 10 POWERade Series berth and a position in the Countdown to the Championship.
Troxel’s Funny Car lost traction past the 330-foot mark and spun the tires, opening the door for Jerry Toliver to get the round win in 4.156 seconds at 299.60 mph. Troxel finished in 4.986 seconds at 176.72 mph.
“It was probably going to be a pret ty decent run, but I let the car get out of the groove and it smoked the tires,” lamented Troxel, who is 14th, 509 points. “It’s funny. Sometimes you feel like you are in a hole and no matter what you do, you can’t get back out.
“Unfortunately, that probably ends our hopes of getting into the top 10, but I think we have a lot of season left. We need to definitely keep working on growing as a team and making sure we are exactly where we need to be for the beginning of next year.”
The team has been on tour for successive races in Denver , Seattle and Sonoma and the crew members are looking forward to getting back to their Brownsburg, Ind. , shop where they’ll regroup and begin preparing for the next even t, the Lucas Oil Nationals, Aug. 8-10, at Brainerd , Minn.
