LAS VEGAS (April 17) -- Melanie Troxel and the In-N-Out Burger Funny Car team aren't going to let a couple of unintended holes in the body of their Dodge Charger get them down.
Troxel qualified in the No. 9 spot for Sunday's eliminations at the 11th annual SummitRacing.com Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. During her last pass the car's engine lost a cylinder and pushed her across the center line. She plowed into two of the timing cones, damaging the front of the In-N-Out Car.
Despite the damage, it was still a full pass, which means more crucial data to set a tuneup in the hot track conditions.
"You can tell by the number of cars that did not make it down the track in the first session, that (the heat) is the big issue," Troxel said. "It's not about making big horsepower right now, it's about figuring out how to get down a tricky racetrack."
Troxel made a best pass of 4.250 seconds at 302.28 mph with many In-N-Out Burger VIPs backing her, including company chief Lynsi Martinez. Troxel draws Bob Tasca III in the first round on Sunday. Tasca qualified No. 8 with a best run of 4.243 seconds at 292.77 mph.
"We're making progress from where we were in Houston (last week)," Troxel said. "We tried something different in the clutch department, but it didn't work. It's hard to tell that we're making progress because we're not seeing the type of normal numbers we can gauge against."
As for the damaged car body, Troxel said the team is prepared and will be ready to race once when her name is called on Sunday.
"We've got the parts it takes to come out here and run competitively," Troxel said. "We've actually got two more In-N-Out bodies on the truck ready to go. That's not going to slow us down one bit."
Eliminations begin at 11 a.m. PDT on Sunday from The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
