<img src="http://www.nitromater.com/gallery/files/5/FranH.jpg" alt="FranH" align="left"borders="0"/><img src="http://www.nitromater.com/gallery/files/5/m_troxel_508502.jpg" alt="m_troxel_508502" align="right"borders="0"/>
COMMERCE, Ga. April 26 COMMERCE, Ga., April 26, 2008 - Melanie Troxel and the special Dream House for Medically Fragile Children Dodge R/T Funny team wore dejected looks Saturday afternoon after they came up .032-seconds shy of earning a starting position for Sunday's Summit Racing Equipment Nationals at Atlanta Dragway.
On the opposite side of the team transporter, Frank Hawley, Troxel's Gotham City Racing teammate, felt the same way about the performance of his ProCare Rx Dodge Charger R/T. His best time of 4.983 seconds was 18th overall, one behind Troxel.
Troxel registered three solid runs in the 4.9s (4.966, 4.994 and 4.971 seconds) and had another of 5.053 seconds.
"Everybody on our team is frustrated," Troxel said. "We all want to be running better . . . but, as I've said before, this is not an easy class. And it's not getting any easier."
Troxel also was disappointed because this is the home track of team co-owner Roger Burgess (Mike Ashley is the other co-owner) and Dream House. Burgess also co-owns ProCare Rx, which is located in Duluth, Ga. "We wish we could've done better for Roger and everyone at the Dream House," she added. "We'll go home and the guys will get ready so we can come back ready to go next week. That's what we do."
The Midwest Nationals gets underway Friday at St. Louis.
Although he's running a limited schedule, Hawley sees improvements in the team after two races.
"We did okay," he said. "It's hard to say that because we didn't qualify, but we did run 4.96 and 4.98 (seconds in qualifying). We had a problem Friday night and we should've gone down the track. We just need to find our groove."
"The guys did a good job all weekend. Aaron (Brooks, crew chief) gave me a really safe car to drive. For more information about Gotham City Racing, visit the team website: Gotham City Racing.
Troxel Finishes 17th, Hawley 18th
Troxel Comes Up .032-second from 16th
COMMERCE, Ga. April 26 COMMERCE, Ga., April 26, 2008 - Melanie Troxel and the special Dream House for Medically Fragile Children Dodge R/T Funny team wore dejected looks Saturday afternoon after they came up .032-seconds shy of earning a starting position for Sunday's Summit Racing Equipment Nationals at Atlanta Dragway.
On the opposite side of the team transporter, Frank Hawley, Troxel's Gotham City Racing teammate, felt the same way about the performance of his ProCare Rx Dodge Charger R/T. His best time of 4.983 seconds was 18th overall, one behind Troxel.
Troxel registered three solid runs in the 4.9s (4.966, 4.994 and 4.971 seconds) and had another of 5.053 seconds.
"Everybody on our team is frustrated," Troxel said. "We all want to be running better . . . but, as I've said before, this is not an easy class. And it's not getting any easier."
Troxel also was disappointed because this is the home track of team co-owner Roger Burgess (Mike Ashley is the other co-owner) and Dream House. Burgess also co-owns ProCare Rx, which is located in Duluth, Ga. "We wish we could've done better for Roger and everyone at the Dream House," she added. "We'll go home and the guys will get ready so we can come back ready to go next week. That's what we do."
The Midwest Nationals gets underway Friday at St. Louis.
Although he's running a limited schedule, Hawley sees improvements in the team after two races.
"We did okay," he said. "It's hard to say that because we didn't qualify, but we did run 4.96 and 4.98 (seconds in qualifying). We had a problem Friday night and we should've gone down the track. We just need to find our groove."
"The guys did a good job all weekend. Aaron (Brooks, crew chief) gave me a really safe car to drive. For more information about Gotham City Racing, visit the team website: Gotham City Racing.
