Richard Hogan, crew chief of the Vietnam Veterans MIA/POW Top Fuel dragster team driven by talented pilot, Melanie Troxel, described their attempt at qualifying at the 19th annual O’Reilly Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka as one of if anything could go wrong, it did on that run.
Despite the misnomer of calamity, the team still had an evitable run of 4.673 seconds, 317.79 mph offering them the provisional No. 7 slot in the 16-car lineup.
Troxel, the victorious driver of the last NHRA championship race three weeks ago in St. Louis, drove up to her expectations giving it her all in getting the Torco Race Fuels-sponsored dragster to the finish line under power knowing inclement weather was approaching.
“Everything on that run fell out of place, ” said a positive thinking Troxel. “Considering as many things were wrong with that pass and to still go out and run a 4.67; I think we got pretty lucky with that, but we’ll take it. We’re not running tonight with the rain cancellation, but we’ve got two more good shots tomorrow to work on our race day tune up. ”
Qualifying continues with two more attempts on Saturday starting at 12 noon and 2:30 p. m.
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