Team owner Roger Burgess led the R2B2 Racing charge late Saturday night by finishing runner-up in the Pro Mod class at the inaugural NHRA Unleashed event at O'Reilly Raceway Park.

"It was an interesting experience," Burgess said. "We got back into a competitive mindset under some pretty challenging conditions. In all, it was a good weekend for everybody. It's always fun to drive my racecar."

All three of R2B2 Racing's cars reached the semifinals of the event with Burgess advancing to meet Danny Rowe against whom he went red by -.008 seconds.

Burgess' runner-up finish at Unleashed event leads R2B2 Racing effort

Team owner Roger Burgess led the R2B2 Racing charge late Saturday night by finishing runner-up in the Pro Mod class at the inaugural NHRA Unleashed event at O'Reilly Raceway Park.

"It was an interesting experience," Burgess said. "We got back into a competitive mindset under some pretty challenging conditions. In all, it was a good weekend for everybody. It's always fun to drive my racecar."

All three of R2B2 Racing's cars reached the semifinals of the event with Burgess advancing to meet Danny Rowe against whom he went red by -.008 seconds.

Burgess got by Mike Knowles in the first round by getting off the line first in his brand-new Camaro and cruising to a 6.844-second pass at 233.84 mph. Knowles ran a 6.868 at 228.38 mph.

In the semifinals, Burgess beat R2B2 teammate Raymond Commisso and his new Firebird. Commisso fouled out of that race by -.027 seconds, but Burgess still ran a stout 6.154 at 242.15 mph.

"(Crew chiefs) Al Billes and Bob Newberry had all our cars tuned up well," Burgess said. "They did some good work under tough conditions. It was plenty hot there all weekend."

Commisso upset No. 1 qualifier Mike Janis in the first round with a pass of 7.017 seconds at 222.84 mph. Janis ran an 8.490 at 118.28 mph.

Melanie Troxel and her In-N-Out Burger Camaro also made it into the semis after she beat "Turbo" Brad Personett with a pass of 6.492 seconds at 234.66 mph. Personett's lap was in 9.024 seconds at 105.53 mph.

Troxel fell to Rowe in the semis. Rowe's lap was a 6.148 at 239.23 mph, while Troxel crossed in 6.685 seconds at 167.51 mph.

A star on both sides of the pond, Troxel and select R2B2 team members will get right back to work as she will race in the upcoming FIA Nitrolympx August 13-15 at Hockenheimring in Germany.