Words by Mike McKean
Special to Drag Racing Online
Photos by James Drew
2/13/06
he story of Sunday's eliminations at the season-opening NHRA Winternationals were just as much who was in the winner's circle as who wasn't. Melanie Troxel became only the sixth woman to win a Top Fuel final in NHRA history, and Robert Hight finished off a wild weekend to claim victory in Funny Car. On the other hand defending nitro champions John Force and Tony Schumacher were both gone before the semifinals.
Troxel marked her first professional victory in a matchup that guaranteed a first-time winner: David Baca, her competition in the finale, had two career final-round appearances (as did Troxel) entering the round, but no victories to show for it. Her run through the field also marked her second straight final, three months after losing to teammate Schumacher in the 2005 Auto Club Finals last November.
"It almost seems like a long time coming for me," said Troxel, joined in the post-race press conference by car owner Don Schumacher and crew chief Richard Hogan. "I knew that when Don called me last summer and told me he was putting another car together, that it was an opportunity that I could not pass up. It was the right parts and the right people, and that I'd be the lucky one to be in the limelight and drive the car."
The win also had some historical context: Troxel's win was the first by a female Top Fuel driver since Cristen Powell beat the late Bruce Sarver at Englishtown in 1997, and the fourth woman to win Top Fuel at the Winternationals, after Shelly Anderson in 1994, Lori Johns in 1990, and Shirley Muldowney twice (1980, '83). The win also came 18 years after Troxel's father, the late Mike Troxel, won in Top Alcohol Dragster at the 1988 Winternationals.
When asked about being part of a select few female drivers to win in the dragster class, Troxel had a quick response.
"Really? Do you think there‚s so few? Because I think there a lot, compared to other motorsports," she said. "We've got a ton of them. I don't think it's really an issue anymore. I'm thrilled that there were women in the sport that paved the way, but I think that everyone involved in the sport knows that it's not a big deal here anymore. On the outside, I know it's a media draw, but here, we're all just racers."
This season will be Troxel's first full season in the nitro class. In 2000, Don Schumacher put Troxel in an Exide-sponsored dragster midway through the schedule when the team welcomed the U.S Army as a sponsor that season for then- and current teammate Tony Schumacher.