While one was invisible through the first third of the season, it just seemed
like the other was invisible.
That all changed on Sunday when Dave Connolly and Melanie Troxel found the winner?s circle at the O?Reilly Thunder Valley
Nationals in Bristol.
Connolly was sidelined sans sponsor until the sixth race of the year, but since signing with Charter Communications he?s made an immediate impact, highlighted by Sunday?s win that moved him up to 14th
place in Pro Stock.
The story for Troxel was a different one. She had a sponsor ? ProCare Rx ? but in her first season competing in Funny Car the former Top Fueler had struggled mightily with four DNQs and three firstround
losses.
But Sunday, the four-time winner in Top Fuel picked up her first round-win and next thing you know she?s celebrating her first race win in the ultra-competitive
Funny Car class.
And she became the second woman in three races to reach the FC winner?s circle ? remarkable when you consider that before Ashley Force?s win in Atlanta on April 27 there had never been a female winner in FC
in the history of the sport.
Troxel jumped up from 20th to 15th place with the win and although she?s still four-plus rounds behind 10th-place Del Worsham, she?s inserted herself back
into the playoff picture.
Her opponent in the Funny Car final, Mike Neff, made one of the biggest moves, jumping into the Top 10 for the first time by steering the Old Spice Ford Mustang to a second consecutive
runner-up finish.
In Top Fuel, there were
no changes in the Top 10.
The Staging Lane What?s next: O?Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals When: May 30 – June 1 Where: Heartland Park ON TV: ESPN2HD, Qualifying 5:30 – 8 p.m. on Saturday; Race 4 – 7 p.m. ET on Sunday. Notable: This race marks the halfway point of the 18- race regular season ? Jack Beckman?s second consecutive DNQ knocked him out of the Top 10 for the first time all season ? Tony Schumacher has been in first place wire-towire this season ? Greg Anderson regained the points lead in Pro Stock ? Mike Neff made his first
appearance in the Top 10.
