Melanie Troxel said her objective was to gain experience behind the wheel of a Pro Modified. Monday afternoon she gained a bit more than she bargained for at Gateway International Raceway.

Troxel, an NHRA national event winner in both Top Fuel and Funny Car divisions, crashed behind the wheel of Raymond Commisso’s 5.8-second Pro Modified entry. She was uninjured in the accident.

“I went out and shifted the car into second and it tried to spin the tires pretty hard,” Troxel recalled on her third run behind the wheel of the 2,500 horsepower race car.

“It just got out of hand and it became a combination of a not-so-good situation and my inexperience,” Troxel admitted. “I just didn’t have enough laps.” Nitro Veteran Crashes Pro Mod in Testing …

Melanie Troxel said her objective was to gain experience behind the wheel of a Pro Modified. Monday afternoon she gained a bit more than she bargained for at Gateway International Raceway.

Troxel, an NHRA national event winner in both Top Fuel and Funny Car divisions, crashed behind the wheel of Raymond Commisso’s 5.8-second Pro Modified entry. She was uninjured in the accident.

“I went out and shifted the car into second and it tried to spin the tires pretty hard,” Troxel recalled on her third run behind the wheel of the 2,500 horsepower race car.

“It just got out of hand and it became a combination of a not-so-good situation and my inexperience,” Troxel admitted. “I just didn’t have enough laps.”

The car reportedly spun sideways and did a soft roll onto the roof without impacting either retaining wall. It was clearly one of the more tame Pro Modified accidents a team could endure.

“It went up on two wheels a couple of times and I honestly thought I had brought it back in when it went over on the roof,” Troxel said. “It wasn’t a violent crash. I’m fine. Obviously the car is a lot worse off than I am.”

There were three Pro Modified accidents o ver the course of the O’Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals. No serious injuries were reported.

Troxel emerged from the accident without a scratch or any aches.

“We all know these cars are a handful but you just hope you make it through that learning curve without that kind of stuff happening,” Troxel added.

Troxel was behind the wheel of the Pro Modified in preparation for becoming a test driver while the R2B2 team actively searches for backing for their nitro team. She is not planning to switch classes and the accident hasn’t deterred her desire to continue forward with test driving in the class.

“I feel terrible to go out there and tear up Roger’s [team owner Roger Burgess] equipment and Raymond Commisso’s car,” Troxel said. “The accident doesn’t change my opinion of the car and I still intend to drive at a later date. The priority now is to get the car back together and out on the race track.”

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