Melanie Troxel, a winner in both the NHRA Funny Car and Top Fuel classes, will be the Newsmaker of the Week on The Race Reporters radio show, Wednesday, April 14, 7 p.m. EDT, on www.PowerUpChannel.com.

This season, Troxel is driving the In-N-Out Burger Dodge Charger in select Funny Car events as well as in the Pro Mod class. She was runner-up in last weekend’s Pro Mod race, near Houston. In 2006, she won two Top Fuel races and finished fourth in points. She won twice again in TF the next season and then moved into Funny Cars in 2008 and got one victory.

Troxel will be racing this weekend at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Dan Parker, substituting for a vacationing Lynne Milner-Baxley behind the wheel of Ellis Milner's 1957 Chevrolet, survived a race of upsets and won the Dixie Pro Mod Association season opener at Phenix Dragstrip in Phenix City, AL.

Breakage claimed two entries before the race ever started and handling problems in the semi-finals eliminated former ADRL champions Keith Baker and Jamie Hancock. Baker had qualified number one and Hancock number three. Parker was sandwiched in between at number two.

Steve Torrence is going to Las Vegas for his 27th birthday.

He didn’t plan it that way, but NHRA scheduled the 11th annual Summitracing.com Nationals for April 16-18, so the driver of the Torrence Racing/Tuttle Motorsports Top Fuel dragster will already be there . . . and he might as well take advantage of it.

“My birthday is Saturday and we hope to finish the weekend with a race win on Sunday,” said Torrence.  “That would be a good reason to have a big celebration.  This is the first time I’ve raced at Las Vegas in the spring.  I have been at the last two fall races and have done fairly well.

It's not often when four-time world champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. arrives at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway that he doesn't leave a winner.

Coughlin, driver of the JEGS.com Chevy Cobalt in Pro Stock, is the defending champion of this weekend's event, which will be run from April 16-18. Last year was the fifth time in his career Coughlin won at Las Vegas. He's raced to the Vegas money round seven times in all.

"It's a Bruton Smith track so you are always fired up when you pull through the gates," Coughlin said. "It's a first-class facility, second-to-none, and I love the place.

Drag racing's most well-known newbie, 2004 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Kurt Busch, will be attempting some unusual double duty on Saturday, April 24. Barring inclement weather, Busch will qualify his No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge at Talladega Superspeedway, then fly to Concord, N.C. to race his 1970 Dodge Challenger at zMAX Dragway during PINKS All Out.
    
Busch, who recently got his NHRA competitor's license at zMAX Dragway through Roy Hill's Drag Racing School, participated in the NHRA
Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla., during a recent off weekend for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Don Schumacher Racing drivers will visit with NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series fans and sign autographs at New York, New York Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on Friday, April 16.

New York, New York is the official Las Vegas hotel of Don Schumacher Racing and DSR Top Fuel and Funny car drivers Tony Schumacher, Cory McClenathan, Antron Brown, Ron Capps, Jack Beckman and Matt Hagan will be available for a free autograph session from 7:30-9:30 p.m. The hotel is located at 3790 Las Vegas Blvd. South, Las Vegas, NV 89109, and fans are asked to enter the hotel front door on Tropicana Blvd. for easier access to the autograph session.

At this moment Jason Line must feel like he’s on one of the world’s biggest roller-coasters. This wild and wacky thrill ride resembles your every day street sedan, but goes through its ups and downs at more than 210 mph.

While the 2006 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series world champion has shown at times he’s certainly capable of adding a second championship crown to his resume, there are other times when he’s trying simply to hang on as his season speeds sharply into a double-loop.

The former head dyno operator for Joe Gibbs Racing on the NASCAR circuit hopes to turn his fortunes around in the hometown of his team owner Ken Black, who continues the recovery process after a recent bout with some health issues.

John Medlen knows the look and sees it when he looks into Matt Hagan’s eyes.

“Ojo de la Tigre,” Medlen conveys.  

In case your Spanish is a little rusty Ojo de la Tigre means Eye of the Tiger.

It’s been almost a month since Medlen, a longtime tuner with John Force Racing shocked the drag racing world with the news he was not only leaving the team but also joining the Don Schumacher Racing operation.

Drag racer Melanie Troxel admits she's a bit of an adrenaline junkie. The only female in NHRA history with wins in the sport's top two categories -- Top Fuel and Funny Car -- Troxel routinely zips down the drag strip in four seconds at speeds in excess of 315 mph.

But her all-male crew still likes to give her a hard time about being a girl, including good-natured ribbing about bringing a purse and lipstick with her whenever she makes a pass in her 8,000-horsepower In-N-Out Burger Funny Car.

"They like to kid with me," Troxel said. "So the other day I made them promise to come along with me on a special deal in Las Vegas, but they have no idea what they're in for.

All four event winners from last weekend's NHRA Full Throttle Series Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park will be guests on WFO Radio NHRA Tuesday with Joe Castello, live tonight at 7 p.m. ET.  To listen live or on-demand, go to http://www.wforadio.com
 
Spring Nationals winners Larry Dixon (Top Fuel), Matt Hagan (Funny Car), Jeg Coughlin (Pro Stock), and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) will all appear in one-on-one interviews with host Joe Castello.
 
Dixon, driver of the Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel dragster, won Sunday for the second time this year in a pedal fest against Antron Brown.  The win was Dixon's 50th of his NHRA professional career moving him into eighth place on the all-time list, breaking a tie with Don "The Snake" Prudhomme.