It's going to be another double-duty weekend for Melanie Troxel as she'll wheel both the In-N-Out Burger Funny Car and the In-N-Out Burger Pro Mod racecar at the upcoming 23rd annual O'Reilly Auto Parts Spring Nationals, which run Friday through Sunday at Houston Raceway Park.

It's the second time Troxel has raced two cars in the same weekend with the Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla., her first double-up experience.

"I've certainly got a much better idea of what to expect out of this weekend," Troxel said. "Strangely enough the things I was worried about going into the season weren't the things that caused me problems.

It's going to be another double-duty weekend for Melanie Troxel as she'll wheel both the In-N-Out Burger Funny Car and the In-N-Out Burger Pro Mod racecar at the upcoming 23rd annual O'Reilly Auto Parts Spring Nationals, which run Friday through Sunday at Houston Raceway Park.

It's the second time Troxel has raced two cars in the same weekend with the Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla., her first double-up experience.

"I've certainly got a much better idea of what to expect out of this weekend," Troxel said. "Strangely enough the things I was worried about going into the season weren't the things that caused me problems.

"Overall the Gatornationals went very smoothly, and my expectation is that this weekend will be even smoother."

Troxel and her Roger Burgess-owned Dodge Charger Funny Car team have been making gains every race since the start of the Full Throttle season in Pomona, Calif. Her ride is still a little bit off the pace of Funny Car's top echelon cars, but Troxel said if the team maintains its current level of progress, it won't be long before she'll be posting top-quality laps every time out.

"My crew chiefs Lance Larsen and Robb Houser have been trying hard to pick up that extra .05 seconds we really need to be competitive," said Troxel, who has dipped as low as 4.10 seconds over the 1,000-foot course this year. "By all accounts we've improved every weekend and we see no reason why we won't do the same in Houston.

"We're sneaking up on that last little bit we need to go out there and go rounds every race."

On the Pro Mod side, Troxel said her '63 VooDoo Corvette is primed and ready for a good run after qualifying No. 3 and reaching the second round in the Pro Mod season opener at Gainesville.

"That car came out in Florida and proved it was exactly the same as we left it at the end of last season," Troxel said. "It is a very competitive car. Having Bob Newberry working on the tune-up has been a big addition to the team. We've spent a lot of time testing recently to try and make it even better, so there is a lot to be excited about.

"I get asked a lot about the differences between Funny Car and Pro Mod. Nothing matches the acceleration and power of an 8,000-horsepower Funny Car and when things go well, they're really fun to drive. I call Pro Mods 'angry little racecars' because they are just so aggressive and so wild every pass. Both are fun to drive, although they are very different procedurally. I just feel lucky to have a chance to run both of them."