Melanie Troxel is the quickest and fastest female driver in NHRA history, clocking a 4.458-second pass and top speed of 330.31 mph!

Melanie grew up in Colorado, where she inherited both her love for the sport of drag racing and strict work ethic. She spent her childhood learning from her dad, veteran drag racer Mike Troxel, and her mother, Barbara, who grew up working on airplanes with her father.

Melanie ran her first drag race at age 16 — as soon as she was able to get her racing license — in a car with an engine she rebuilt herself.

Beginning her professional career racing a Top Alcohol dragster in 1997, just two years later Melanie captured two NHRA national event victories at Seattle and Topeka. Her first driving opportunity in a Top Fuel dragster came in 2000 with Don Schumacher Racing. In her ten events that year, in which she also drove for another Top Fuel team, she had one runner-up finish at Dallas.

After taking a break from Top Fuel competitions, Melanie decided to pursue her goal of becoming the number one Top Fuel drag racer. Given an opportunity by Don Schumacher Racing, Melanie sped down the quarter mile in the 13th event of the 2005 season. In 2005, after 11 races, Melanie had eight round wins and concluded the season with a runner-up finish at Pomona.

Melanie opened the 2006 season in amazing form, earning her first career Top Fuel victory. A few weeks later, in Las Vegas, she recorded her second Top Fuel victory and became the first NHRA Top Fuel driver to reach the final round in the first five events of a season. Melanie led the point standings through the first 12 events and was named Speed Magazine’s “2006 First Quarter Driver of the Year,” beating out NASCAR’s Jimmie Johnson and IRL’s Helio Castroneves. As her strong race track performances continued, her off-the-track accolades followed suit, winning the United States Auto Club’s “Kara Hendrick Spirit Award,” honoring a female driver for spirit, determination, and driving ability; and the prestigious Women’s Sports Foundation’s “2006 Sportswoman of the Year” award. Melanie was also nominated for two ESPN ESPY awards for “Female Athlete of the Year,” and “Driver of the Year.”  This marked the first time in NHRA history that a driver was nominated for two ESPY awards in two categories.

Melanie finished her first full Top Fuel season in a respectable fourth place, 210 points behind teammate Tony Schumacher. As in 2005, she ended the 2006 season with a runner-up finish at Pomona.

Now racing in the Vietnam Veterans Memorial/POW-MIA dragster, Melanie is confident that she can continue to improve in 2007 and become the Top Fuel Champion.  Both on and off the track, her successes have clearly established her as not only a top contender, but also as an ambassador for the sport.