All eyes will be on Melanie Troxel and her Vietnam Veterans team going into seventh annual ACDelco Las Vegas Nationals on the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. With only races remaining on the drag racing calendar, she’s been NHRA’s hottest driver with more round wins than any of the contenders in the Top Fuel Countdown to the Championship. She has participated in 12 rounds of competition since Indy and title leading, Larry Dixon only 11. If she had made the title hunt, she would be exactly 10 points away from Dixon in the revamped points standings system.
That’s hindsight and you can’t relive the past, but that hasn’t stopped Troxel from fulfilling her thoughts of leaving the Top Fuel category with a major splash. But before that she has her sites set on $100,000 in the Technicoat Shootout, the special Top Fuel race for the eight top qualifiers for the year. Troxel will race Brandon Bernstein in the opening round of Saturday’s special event eliminations.
“There’s not an easy car out there, ” said Troxel, who has two National event victories this season. “You hear people say that all the time but I think it’s true now more than ever. The Top Fuel class is tough and there are really some good cars throughout the field. Fortunately, I feel we are one of those cars. We can be aggressive with our tune-up on Saturday without worry of the ramifications of the points. ”
Before she can race, she must qualify and two of the three potential rounds of competition will count towards qualifying in the Technicoat Shootout. With the weather predicted to warmer than usual, Troxel has a plan.
“Our strategy is to get a good lap in on Friday, so we won’t be concerned so much about making the race, ” she said. “The track surface is very good and we know all of the Bruton Smith tracks are that way. For my family, the track has been very nice to my husband, (Funny Car racer, Tommy Johnson, Jr. ) over the years and we won the spring race last year. It’s a great facility and everyone likes coming out there. We historically haven’t done very well in the fall race, but I think we have a great opportunity this weekend to change that. ”
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