Melanie Troxel Looks For Consistency At Seattle

Troxel and team trying to fix up-and-down performance of In-N-Out car

Funny Car favorite Melanie Troxel and her R2B2 Racing teammates were thrilled with a season-best qualifying effort at the NHRA tour's last stop in Sonoma, Calif. But the jubilant feeling soon gave way to aggravation when the In-N-Out Burger Toyota Solara unexpectedly smoked its tires in the first round of eliminations, handing an easy victory to the previously winless car in the other lane.

"We've been frustrated with the lack of consistency of this car," Troxel said. "Specifically on race day, but really it's been erratic in qualifying as well. It shows us really good numbers at times, but then we can't seem to follow up and build on that."

Melanie Troxel, In-N-Out/RoadRage.com Toyota Camry

Photo by: Michael C. Johnson

Consequently, as soon as the team returned to the pits Sunday afternoon, the braintrust of crew chief Aaron Brooks and vice president of research and development John Medlen decided to take the tune-up in a different direction. They devised a plan and immediately put the crew to work on implementing the changes.

"John has some ideas he's been wanting to try and we decided now was the time to make a change," Troxel said. "The guys jumped in and got to work Sunday and even stayed Monday to switch some things around. From what I understand, there's still a little more work to do so they'll finish up Thursday when they get to Pacific Raceways. Then we'll start racing and see how it reacts."

Seattle should be the perfect place for a resurrection. Troxel won her first national event at the facility back in 1999, driving the Darien and Meadows Top Alcohol Dragster with support from In-N-Out Burgers, the iconic restaurant that still funds her racing efforts.

"I personally like the track a lot," Troxel said. "It's got character. I raced there a lot early in my career and obviously I've gone there every year since I turned pro. We're hoping to make some more good memories this time through."

By: r2b2 racing