The realization she won’t be among the 10 Funny Car drivers competing
for the 2008 POWERade Series championship didn’t find Melanie Troxel
gnashing her teeth in disgust or stomping around in a sullen mood.

Nope, that’s not her style.  She approaches it as an opportunity to continue to improve instead of an opportunity lost.

“It’s interesting,” said Troxel.  “People almost feel like it’s a
wasted season if you don’t make the top 10.  But, in reality, if you
don’t finish in the top three or four, then I’m not sure it matters if
you finish fifth or 15th.

“I would rather go out and win a couple of races this year than be able
to make the top 10 but finish 10th and not win any races.  It’s more
important to me to have race wins. Nobody’s going to remember who
finished fifth or 10th come five years from now.  But if you were able
to go out and win several races and be a dominant team in the last part
of the season, that’s something I think our Gotham City Racing team
would definitely be proud of.”

Greg Weld, founder of Kansas City, Mo.-based Weld Wheels, died of a heart attack this morning. He was 64.

Weld
was known as both a driver and a racing entrepreneur. As a driver, he
was a successful competitor in the USAC Series. In 1963, he won
sprint-car racing’s big race, the Knoxville Nationals in Knoxville, Iowa. Weld was the 1967 USAC sprint-car champion. He also drove in the Indianapolis 500 in 1970, where he started 28th and finished 32nd. He was voted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in Knoxville.

One of the more interested spectators during the recently completed
IHRA Torco Northern Nationals in Martin, Mich., was two-time IHRA Funny
Car champion

Dale Creasy Jr. enjoyed his first weekend back at the races since his Edmonton accident. (Roger Richards)

Dale Creasy, Jr., who was injured in a driveline explosion in July during the IHRA Rocky Mountain Nationals in Edmonton, Alb.

Creasy suffered serious injuries to his legs when a driveline failure
exposed his legs to rotating metal parts which left him with broken
bones and lacerations. He’s since underwent a pair of surgical
procedures to repair the damage.

The upbeat Creasy has a long recovery procedure ahead, but his determination to return to driving has never been stronger.

Tommy Franklin realizes that luck can play a major role in drag racing.
Good fortunes can mean the difference between a win or a loss.

However, to Franklin, luck could have easily meant the difference between life and death.

Franklin competes in the American Drag Racing League’s Pro Nitrous
division and during the recently completed event in Budds Creek, Md.,
the Fredericksburg, Va.-based driver suffered one of the more
devastating crashes in the history of the racing series.

He was uninjured  in the crash and by his assessment, lucky.

Roger Richards Photo

Terry Haddock spent much of his Friday evening and the wee hours of
Saturday during the recently completed IHRA Torco Nothern Nationals pinpointing a cause for his massive engine explosion on the
starting line. He had the answer his was looking for by the time he
made Saturday’s first run.

Chris Rivas has quickly learned that riding for the G2 Motorsports
team, which is sponsored by aftermarket V-twin giants Drag Specialties
and S&S Cycle has more than its fair share of perks.

Rivas has experienced one of those perks in visiting this weeks Sturgis
Motorcycle rally  in Sturgis, S.D. He’ll be mingling with the thousands
of riders at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally for the first time Monday and
Tuesday, but he won’t be riding his motorcycle.

Troy Williams, Jr. had to win a race for a fallen friend and it’s
fitting he attained the feat at a track he’s experienced much success.
He scored a Top Dragster win at the annual Lucas Oil Division 3 event
at National Trail Raceway in Columbus, Ohio.
Last season, Williams left the Columbus with a pair of NHRA “Wally”
trophies, as he was triumphant in both Super Comp and Top Dragster at
the annual Lucas Oil Division Race Series at National Trails.

This one was special, though.

Remember in grade school when you were assigned the traditional “what I did last summer” essay?

Frank Gugliotta admits to using the experience of crew chief on an NHRA team to improve his IHRA Pro Stock effort. (Roger Richards)

If IHRA Pro Stock racer Frank Gugliotta were presented with the same
task, he’d fill the pages with details of working on the NHRA 500-inch
scene as a crew chief for friend Justin Humphreys; a position which
became available when previous tuner Bob Glidden retired.

Make no bones about it Gugliotta is having as much fun turning the
wrenches  on an NHRA Pro Stock as he is driving on the IHRA circuit.
And, what he is learning as a crew chief is being applied to his IHRA
effort.

Never mind the fact Gugliotta’s IHRA engine displaces 300-inches more
than Humphreys’ car, with each outing he gathers that much more
information he can use in both types of racing.

Spencer Massey admits he won’t rest until November, and then he’ll kick up his feet and watch some football and relax.

Spencer Massey took over the Top Fuel points lead by winning.

Chances are while the gridiron battles rage on his television screen,
he’ll think back to the point in the season when he stopped the
veterans at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Mich., to win his
third event of the season.

Along the way he’ll reflect how he kept an uncharacteristic level head
for a rookie driver. He’ll remember how he knocked off the defending
world champion and made his first foray in the 4.6-second zone.

Massey will remember that weekend. But, that’s in the future and he’s looking anywhere but there at this moment.

He’s living by cliché, one day at a time. One round and one event at a
time is the motto for the day. No fist-pumping for the driver of Mitch
King’s Top Fuel dragster.

Mike Castellana isn’t really sure what to believe regarding his
recent performance at the IHRA Torco Northern Nationals in Martin, Michigan. The veteran nitrous Pro Modified
racer knows he’s running quicker than ever, but he’s also aware his
supercharged adversaries aren’t running as quick as they could.

Regardless of the answer, the 2006 IHRA Pro Modified world champion is
doing everything he can to gain a performance advantage while the hot
summer months favor his combination.

Castellana knows that he’s got to make hay while the sun is out.

“Hopefully if we can outrun them [supercharged racers] during the hot
months of summer, when the weather cools down maybe we can just keep
pace with them,” Castellana explained. “We have made some gains no
doubt, but the racing should be a lot closer than it has been this
weekend.”