Melanie Troxel zooms to No. 5 in Brainerd qualifying

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2006 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 16 of 23
LUCAS OIL NHRA NATIONALS
Brainerd (Minn.) Int'l Raceway
Race Date: Aug. 11-13, 2006

BRAINERD, Minn. (Aug. 12, 2006) - NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Top
Fuel championship contender (currently No. 2 in points) Melanie Troxel
put herself in a solid qualifying position for this weekend's Lucas Oil NHRA
Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway by collecting the No. 5 spot in
the Skull Shine/Knoll Gas-Torco Race Fuels Top Fuel dragster.

Troxel was at the top of the charts in each of the first three qualifying
sessions, holding either No. 2 or No. 3 positions until the final round. She
produced three strong, consistent passes: first a 4.653-second pass at
324.36 mph, followed by a 4.564/325.22 and a 4.585/322.58. She lost traction
only in the final qualifying run, posting a 7.080/104.03.

"It's definitely nice to come out and make a lot of good passes down the
track," said the 33-year-old fan favorite. "In that last session we found
out where the edge is," she said of spinning the tires at the 330-ft. mark.
"So, that's always good to know.

"We made it down the track three out of four runs, and we have a solid setup
for this track. The weather conditions should be similar tomorrow, so I feel
like we have a good plan."

She faces fellow Torco Race Fuels-sponsored J.R. Todd in the first round of
eliminations, as Knoll Gas-Torco Race Fuels owner Evan Knoll is in
attendance this weekend. "It's too bad we have to see J.R. in the first
round. It obviously means we can't meet up in the finals, which I'm sure
Evan would like to see," said Troxel.

"They've been a tough team for the last several races, but we feel really
good about how we are running right now, and we're looking forward to
Sunday."