Sometimes when a wild horse throws you the best medicine is to saddle up and give it another try.

Two weeks after crashing Raymond Commisso’s Pro Modified, Troxel was behind the wheel again and making more test runs.

The nitro racer turned Pro Modified test pilot made four runs on the Monday following the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals and while she didn’t drive the car under power to the finish line, she’s been busy becoming acclimated with the nuances of fast doorslammer racing.

Troxel has run just past the 330 foot mark and each time lifted.

Sometimes when a wild horse throws you the best medicine is to saddle up and give it another try.

Two weeks after crashing Raymond Commisso’s Pro Modified, Troxel was behind the wheel again and making more test runs.

The nitro racer turned Pro Modified test pilot made four runs on the Monday following the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals and while she didn’t drive the car under power to the finish line, she’s been busy becoming acclimated with the nuances of fast doorslammer racing.

Troxel has run just past the 330 foot mark and each time lifted.

“The car has felt well right up until the one-two shift,” Troxel admitted. “It just tries to pull the tires loose then and obviously the track isn’t as good on Monday as it was during the weekend. For me as a driver, I am going back and watching the videos and I really like what I am seeing.”

Troxel learned the edge of the envelope in post-race testing after the O’Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals in St. Louis, as she drove the supercharged Camaro out of the groove and ended up putting the car into a slow rollover. The car was repaired in the days following and Commisso drove it to a runner-up finish over the weekend.

“The idea is to be conservative and make as many passes as we can until the car wants to go straight through that point,” Troxel said. “Anytime you are making the transition to a new car you just need passes. The more full passes you make the more of a feel you get for when the car feels right.

“The goal with testing today was to make lots of passes just past the one-two shift. We’re just not right at that point yet.”

Troxel likens her experiences of today’s short runs to what she experienced during the fateful third run in St. Louis.

“Obviously we’ve had a much better outcome today,” Troxel said with a smile.

Troxel says the goal is still to put the R2B2 Funny Car back on the track, but for now she’s content in expanding her driving horizons by learning how to adapt to driving a suspended doorslammer in an effort to become an effective test driver. This car presents only her second experience at driving one since running an Econo Altered entry early in her car.

“Every car has its own personality,” Troxel admitted. “There is a transition to make [from nitro racing]. It’s not about being an easier car to drive for me or a harder one. Each car has that personality. Going from Funny Car to Pro Modified is probably more of a transition for me than going from Top Fuel to Funny Car.”

UPDATED -Troxel concluded her day with a 6.32 elapsed time to the 1,000 foot mark. Crew chief Al Billes confirmed the run, according to the incremental clockings, would have been a 6.10 or quicker.
 

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