Motor Sports Weekly News

By Drew Hierwarter

The final day of racing at the NHRA O’Reilly Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tennessee was truly a long day into night. Rain danced in, out, and around the mountains all day producing numerous delays and holding off the final round of Funny Car Eliminator until 10:30 PM!  By that time only a couple of hundred die-hard fans remained in the stands, but those who did were rewarded with an event that rewrote the history books.

Melanie Troxel hadn’t won a single round so far in this, her first year in the floppers. She broke that string when she defeated Tony Pedregon in a round that was delayed twice by rain, and each time after the cars had made their burnouts. Both cars required trips back to the pits to cool the clutches and change the oil. In the second round Melanie faced Ashley Force in the first all female round in Funny Car history. Then in the semi-final, Troxel defeated Jim Head.  

Meanwhile on the other side of the ladder, Mike Neff was driving his John Force Racing, Old Spice Mustang through the field beating Tony Bartone, Ron Capps, and teammate Robert Hight to gain his second final round appearance in a row. It would be the seventh time in the eight races so far this year that a John Force entry was in the final round. This would also be the first time that two drivers who had yet to win an event would meet in a final round since 1995.

So, after hours and hours of multiple rain delays, the two cars made their burnouts and prepared to stage for a race that would see one of them get their first ever NHRA Funny Car victory. But then there was trouble in Mike Neff’s lane. The crew couldn’t raise the body of the car to get under it to reset the controls for the clutch and fuel system. After some frantic attempts to no avail, Neff pulled to the line anyway. At the green both cars were away and Melanie’s car spun the tires slightly and she had to back peddle. This gave Neff a slight advantage and it looked like the miracle they needed was about to happen. But with the burnout settings still in the clutch system, it locked up and the engine backfired and exploded, and the race went to Troxel. After four wins in her Top Fuel career, this was Melanie’s first Funny Car triumph making her the first female in drag racing history to score wins in both fuel categories.

And speaking of Top Fuel, Tony Schumacher was once again the dominant car in the field. He came from the low qualifier spot to reach his third straight final round appearance and his fifth of the year, the 75^th of his career. Up against Larry Dixon, Schumacher ran low e.t of the meet at 4.501 and left no question that the U.S. Army team would be a factor in the points for the rest of the season.

After being unable to find sponsorship at the end of last year, and missing the first five races of 2008 due to lack of funds, Dave Connolly rewarded new sponsor Charter with his first Pro Stock win of the season. “We’re just thankful to have Charter and Lifelock or we’d still be on the sidelines,” said Connolly. “It makes you appreciate it a bit more.”

The final pair of cars crossed the Thunder Valley finish line some ten and half hours after the first pair of the day. The fans who stuck around through hours of multiple rain delays and watched the NHRA Safety Safari trucks seemingly make more passes than the race cars, were treated to history making firsts, surprising upsets, track and national records being re-set, and some great racing in all categories.