Sat, 19 Sep 2009, 11:02 PM Burgess and Troxel Advance in Pro Mod Eliminations for Team R2B2

Courtesy of Matthew Brammer

CONCORD, N.C. -- After the final round of Get Screened America Pro Mod Challenge qualifying at the NHRA Carolinas Nationals, Roger Burgess led the R2B2 Racing team at No. 6 with a 5.958, Melanie Troxel took No. 8 with a 6.004, and Raymond Commisso landed number 11 with a 6.018. The pairings matched up Burgess and Commisso while Troxel faced Mike Castellana in the first round of eliminations.

Troxel took out Castellana, fourth in the points-race, with a 5.986 at 240.81 mph to Castellana's 6.004 at 233.84 mph. Burgess continued his round-winning streak with a 5.938-second blast to Commisso's off-pace 11.137.

"That was our best run of the weekend," Burgess said. "The driver did his job, left good, and the car ran great. We had a little wiggle at the top, so we've got a little bit left we're working on, but overall, it was a great run and a great time to do it."

As the two took the staging lights, Burgess took off with a .022-second reaction time while Commisso seemed to stand still. He later explained that fog from the humidity in the air caused his visor to steam up and kept him from jumping at the tree.

Commisso said, "It was a combination of a lot of things, really. The car has had difficulty all weekend, and it isn't getting down the track. That, and my helmet visor was foggy from all the humidity in the air, and I just took my mind off what I was doing for a second - and that was all it took. I took off, the car shook, and I saw Roger was way out in front of me, so I just lifted and let him go. I didn't want to take any chances at all."

Burgess added, "Raymond's car is just so inconsistent, we don't know what's happening. It hasn't been lightening fast yet, but we know it's got it in it. He's got a car that's making Al (Billes, crew chief) pull his hair out - he just can't find the tune up. We'll work on it and hopefully get things back in shape for Richmond."

Troxel did the team a huge favor by taking out Mike Castellana in the first round. His absence now gives Burgess a little breathing room from behind him in the points while he is trying to make up ground on points-leader Burton Auxier.

"We're making some progress," Troxel said about her round. "We put a new engine in it, and Al got after it, and we had a good run. We made that lat qualifying pass this morning and ran another six-flat, and we decided to just tune it up, and get after it, and the car responded really well. There's still room for improvement, but for that round, we looked really good."

In round two, Troxel will meet Brad Personett and Burgess will face Rick Stivers, both cars that have performed extremely well all weekend.

Burgess said, "We've found a little extra power in my car, and hopefully it will be there tomorrow. Both Melanie and I are going to go out there, race our lanes, and see what happens at the finish line. That's all we can do."

Eliminations are scheduled to conclude Sunday afternoon.

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