Mon, 16 Oct 2000, 02:40 PM Melanie Troxel to Drive Schumacher's Army Dragster

By Mickey Schultz Bill Walsh to take over Troxel's Exide ride

FastNews Network has learned that Schumacher Racing will announce today that Melanie Troxel, who currently drives the Schumacher Racing Exide Batteries Dragster entry, will replace Tony Schumacher at Dallas in the seat of the U.S. Army dragster. Bill Walsh, former Top Alcohol Dragster driver and (until recently) crew member and test driver on Joe Amato's Top Fuel dragster, will replace Troxel in the Exide Batteries Dragster.

Melanie Troxel

Tony Schumacher was injured in a high-speed crash during qualifying at the NHRA AutoZone Nationals presented by Pennzoil at Memphis Motorsports Park on Saturday, October 7. He underwent surgery on Monday, October 9. He is currently recuperating at his home in Park Ridge, Ill. Tentative plans call for Schumacher to miss the national events in Dallas and Houston and return to his dragster at the season-ending Auto Club NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif., November 9-12.

After a successful career in the Federal Mogul ranks, Troxel moved to Top Fuel at the start of the 2000 season driving for the Darien and Meadows Top Fuel team. After three races the team was forced to cease operations due to loss of sponsorship and financial considerations. Those three races were enough to convince Don Schumacher that Troxel was more than capable of driving his planned second Top Fuel dragster.

Troxel’s debut with Schumacher Racing came at U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. She took over the Exide-backed dragster, while Tony Schumacher moved to the Army-sponsored machine, which also made its debut at the biggest and most prestigious event on the NHRA schedule. During the Indy event, assisted by the power provided by Dan Olson and the tuning expertise of Tim and Kim Richards, Troxel gave credentials to Don Schumacher’s decision to hire her. She qualified in the top half of the 16-car field, setting a new speed standard for female drivers at 320.13 mph, before losing in the semi-finals. At Reading, Penn., her second event under the Schumacher racing umbrella proved just as successful. Troxel qualified third with a blazing pass down the Maple Grove Raceway quarter-mile of 4.576 seconds, the quickest pass in the NHRA history books by a female driver.

In addition to her driving duties, Troxel will also assume the promotional activities and school visits that Schumacher Racing will make on behalf of their U.S. Army sponsorship and the on going recruiting effort of the U. S. Army. Bill Walsh, who spent many years with Joe Amato's Top Fuel operation, is currently a crew member on the Exide Battery crew, and brings several decades of driving experience and an extended knowledge of the operation of a Top Fuel Dragster to the seat of the Exide Batteries Dragster. Walsh was the Top Alcohol Dragster champion from 1984 through 1986 and his last national event win came in Dallas in 1986.

Both the Army Top Fuel Dragster and the Exide Batteries Top Fuel Dragster will be in competition at the NHRA O'Reilly Fall Nationals presented by Castrol Syntec at the Texas Motorplex this weekend.