The Driving Woman

Family legacies are part of the magic of drag racing. It's inspiring to watch different generations eagerly pursuing that speed rush, but these days you're likely to see something relatively new; daughters who follow in their father's footsteps.

Funny Car whiz John Force not only went to the Gatornationals finals; his daughter Ashley won the Top Alcohol dragsters class outright. Two more Force daughters, Brittney and Courtney, came to the Gainesville Raceway as well, competing in Super Comp (smaller dragsters.)

The current Top Fuel points leader Melanie Troxel certainly appreciates the history and tradition of this sport. Her father Mike Troxel raced Top Alcohol dragsters; they use either a supercharged methanol-burning engine or an injected nitro methane combination and they run at over 270 mph.

In Top Fuel, however, Melanie is driving a 7,000 horsepower monster that burns nitro methane and can accelerate from a dead start to roar down the quarter-mile track in about 4 seconds (at over 320 mph.)

Why the drags? Why should any Edmunds fence-sitters out there come to the races? Ms. Troxel says, "I love the sport's intensity, and 330 mph on the TV just isn't the same as seeing it in person. You've got to feel that intensity, feel the 'whap.' You've just got to see it in person. It's unique in sports in that it engages ALL of your senses."  Melanie also mentions one of the basic tenets of NHRA; that every event entrance ticket is literally a pit pass so that fans can get up close to the cars, mechanics and drivers.

Troxel also likes the carnival atmosphere of a day at the races. You can sit in the stands and watch every single race if you're a real diehard (although you'd have still been sitting there at 9:30 Friday night while the 90+ Super Comp cars were finishing their runs.) Most people, however, like to also wander through the booths, demonstrations and food, plus make plenty of time to admire the magnificent racing machines right out there in the pits and meet the drivers. 

Although women are well-represented in NHRA, it is still perhaps inevitable that Ms. Troxel would find herself pegged as a role model for women in motorsports. In my view, this can only be good for the sport; I personally never paid much mind to drag racing until I learned about Shirley Muldowney. Now I'm here at the races, spending money at the Nitro Mall and buying an NHRA membership.

Last year's breakout performance by Danica Patrick in the Indy Racing League (IRL) caused me to start at least glancing at the TV sports schedule for upcoming races. I didn't really even understand the difference between NASCAR and IRL, but because there was someone who looked like me doing it, I decided that maybe I should take an interest.

Melanie has worked very hard to get where she is today, and she's reluctant to "make a point about being a woman. The attention is interesting and flattering, and when girls or women respond to me, I do appreciate their enthusiasm."  She says that when she was young, she saw Ms. Muldowney race, and it had what I call the 'see someone who looks like you' effect. Melanie already certainly had the interest in racing and the desire to compete ("nobody ever said I couldn't") but actually watching another woman race "somehow cemented that desire for me."

She and her husband Tommy Johnson, Jr. (who races in the Funny Car class, basically nitro dragsters with a shell over them) are eager to make the most of the opportunities currently available to them, so the issue of perhaps having kids and raising a family is somewhere off in the future. "It would be great if it happened at some point," she says, "but Tommy and I feel like we're practically kids ourselves right now. Racing keeps you young."

It certainly takes all of Melanie's focus to keep mentally and physically in shape as the driver of her 2,150 pound dragster. She likes cardio and weight sessions, but like the rest of us mere mortals, it's hard for her to keep to a consistent exercise schedule. For relaxation, she confesses to an occasional jonesing for some Nordstrom shopping, and she's an 'online research fanatic.'  With a laugh she adds, "I'd have to say that my favorite Web sites, other than my NHRA.com homepage, are probably search engines. I know I could just go down to Best Buy or wherever to pick up something, but instead I spend two days researching all about whatever it is. I overdo it."

Here's a culinary tip for all of the Edmunds readers in her current home of Indianapolis and her original home state of Colorado; the Speed Queen likes her Mexican food. Back in the Rocky Mountain State is the only place where she can find green chili the way she likes it; "almost like a sauce or stew, with chunks of pork...." 

No surprise that the hot stuff appeals to this high-performance drag racing winner.