Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
After nearly two years out of a dragster, Melanie Troxel merely sought a few wins and title contention. Instead, one of drag racing's new leading ladies is running away with the NHRA Powerade series' Top Fuel class and flirting with history.
Troxel's first full season is off to a record start with final-round appearances in each of the first five races, including victories at Pomona, Calif., and Las Vegas. Her streak is six dating back to last season's finale. If she reaches the limit of this weekend's O'Reilly Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol, Tenn., she will match the overall record of teammate and two-time defending series champion Tony Schumacher.
With a 156-point lead on David Grubnic, she could blow off this weekend and still be on top. Not bad considering just last spring the Denver native trolled the pits at events with helmet in hand, seeking a ride while providing moral support to husband and Funny Car driver Tommy Johnson Jr.
"I expected to win maybe two races by the halfway point and be able to compete for the title, and I've reached that," said Troxel, 33. "But more teams will get it as the season goes on, and I expect my main competition to come from (Schumacher, who's in ninth place, 236 points behind). I'd like to win more events. I'm not saying that I expect to win (the championship), but that's the goal."
Women's world
Such dreams are certainly tenable in the NHRA. Shirley Muldowney's three Top Fuel titles from 1977 to 1982 set the benchmark at a time when women were considered better suited for supportive roles. Women lead two of the NHRA's four professional divisions for the first time (Troxel and three-time Pro Stock Motorcycle champion Angelle Sampey, her teammate). And 39 females overall have won event titles in Pro and Sportsman divisions.
Besides Troxel and Sampey, Hillary Will (Top Fuel), Erica Enders (Pro Stock) and Karen Stoffer (Pro Stock Motorcycle) compete on the pro level, while Ashley Force -- daughter of 13-time Funny Car champion John Force -- is slated to advance from Top Alcohol dragster in the near future.
By comparison, NASCAR hasn't started a female in its Nextel Cup Series since Shawna Robinson in 2002 and has only a handful of drivers between its Busch and Craftsman Truck series. IRL IndyCar Series driver Danica Patrick is the torch bearer for women after last May's historic fourth-place finish in the Indianapolis 500. But she has yet to win and might face competition this year from Champ Car World Series rookie Katherine Legge, who won three times last season in the feeder Atlantic Series.
Muldowney said women such as the 5-8, 130-pound Troxel can quickly contend in drag racing because the four to six seconds required to guide a car a quarter-mile are physically less demanding than stock or Indy car racing. Also, drivers can go directly from driving school into competitive cars.
NHRA teams are giving women a chance in part because of Muldowney, who takes pride in leading the way.
"There are so many opportunities out there," said Muldowney, 65, who retired in 2003 and now represents Grubnic's sponsor. "I was very fortunate to have the people I had and do it the way I did it. That's not to say it's easy today, but they don't have the same kind of pressure. If Melanie should win it, it will change her life."
Waiting to accelerate
Had things worked out in 2000, Troxel could have emerged sooner. After Schumacher's partnership with the U.S. Army left his Exide-sponsored dragster open, Troxel started 10 times, earning a runner-up finish in the Fall Nationals and accolades as a future star.
It ended there, because team owner Don Schumacher couldn't land a sponsor, leaving her with part-time work with several teams for much of the next five years. She missed the 2001 season and raced only 19 times (reaching two semifinals) before sitting out 2004 and most of last year.
Legendary driver turned owner Don "The Snake" Prudhomme signed Troxel in hopes of creating a second ride for her. She met Johnson there and married him two years ago. In between watching him race she talked on site with other teams, but that offered little solace.
"It really tests your resolve," Troxel said. "I didn't count on calling companies for sponsorship or calling teams for a job, but I told myself to keep doing it and my husband sometimes had to kick me in the pants to do it. The hardest thing was to keep going, because just being Tommy's wife was driving me crazy."
"I just gave her advice to keep her attitude and spirits up," said Johnson, who's third in Funny Car points. "I don't know if it was better or worse that she was out there with me, but at least she could be seen."
Don Schumacher knew where to look last spring when sponsorship deals with Skull Gear and Torco Fuels allowed him to add a second dragster. Prudhomme let Troxel go, and she went on to finish 14th in points, becoming the NHRA's fastest woman ever with career bests of 4.458 seconds and 330.31 mph at Fall Nationals.
"I talked to other drivers, but Melanie was my first choice," said Schumacher, who fields six cars in three classes and holds titles in Top Fuel and Funny Car. "She brings diversity but also the possibility of winning races. ... I didn't foresee this happening, but I certainly expected success from her. I hope it can continue."
One-track focus
Tough as things were the past five years, nobody pictured Troxel in another profession. Her father, Mike, who died in 2000 from cancer, was a former Top Alcohol dragster champion who always had his family at racetracks.
Troxel's mother, Barb, turned wrenches on the wings of airplanes her father repaired. Melanie, who began racing at 16, was the foreman in her father's shop and did scheduling. But the mother saw her heart was in racing.
"I tried to explain how the odds were against her, but I also said there's no reason she shouldn't try," Barb Troxel said by phone from Littleton, Colo. "She's given her lifetime to pursue this dream, and I'm glad she didn't give up, because she might have regretted it. Better late than never."
To see more of USAToday.com, or to subscribe, go to http://www.usatoday.com
© Copyright 2006 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
