CHARLOTTE, N.C. (March 28) -- Driver Melanie Troxel and the R2B2 Dodge Charger Funny Car are in a frustrating spot coming out of the inaugural NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway.
During Sunday's eliminations, Troxel had her best reaction time of the season (.084 seconds) and the car ran a 4.129-second pass at 305.49 mph -- the team's second best elapsed time of the season. But despite car and driver doing everything right, it still wasn't enough to advance to the second round.
"We can't be overly disappointed but we wanted to win that round," Troxel said. "We need to improve a little if we're going to be competitive out there."
Out of Troxel's foursome, Ron Capps, who ran a 4.032 at 313.80 mph, and Gainesville winner Tim Wilkerson, who went 4.079 at 299.40 mph, were the two drivers to advance.
Even after bowing out earlier than they had hoped, Troxel said her Roger Burgess-owned team remains hopeful and spirits are high in the pit. They are at the point where they are dissecting their laps tying to find a fraction of a second here or there to be able to make passes in the range of a 4.09 seconds or quicker.
"We're making progress, so we're not going to beat ourselves up too much right now," Troxel said. "We're still a nickel away from really being in the hunt. As a team we're going to have to knuckle down and find that little bit of performance that's holding us back."
Troxel said that it's hard to be patient because not only is there the desire to win race, but the R2B2 team wants to turn on the win light in order to attract more attention from sponsors who can help them race the entire season schedule. The group has an eight-race contract with California-based In-N-Out Burger.
"Realistically we're not in a bad place," Troxel said. "This is a car and equipment that did not run at all in 2009. We're in a good place and have great chemistry, but we still want to go out and win every round.
"We feel pressure to try to get sponsorship to fill the 13 races we don't have funding for. It's just going to take a little more time to get that turned around. Hopefully someone will see the potential in this team and what we can do representing a company. Hopefully they will step on board and give us the opportunity."
Up next, Troxel will pull double duty at the 23rd annual O’Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park, which runs from April 9-11.
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