Superstar drag racer and fan favorite Melanie Troxel will pull double-duty when the NHRA tour arrives in Las Vegas for this weekend’s 12th annual SummitRacing.com Nationals, doubling her chances to take home her first trophy of the 2011 season.

The decorated racer will pilot both the In-N-Out Burger Toyota Funny Car in the Full Throttle Series and the Roadrage.com Camaro in the Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series. She is the only female competitor in either category.

Troxel said an extended test session following the recently completed Gatornationals has gone a long way toward raising her to contender status in both cars.

“Staying and testing in Gainesville really helped the team,” Troxel said. “Vegas will bring a different set of conditions than Gainesville, so what we found in Gainesville might be different than what we need in Vegas, but we’re going come out with our ‘A’ game and do our best to run to our full capabilities.”

Troxel said the Funny Car team is settling into a nice rhythm with new crew chief Aaron Brooks, and the new crew members in the Pro Mod pit are also getting along well.

“Aaron made a point to put his signature on the Funny Car this year,” Troxel said. “We have a lot of new people on our team, in fact we’re one guy short of having a completely new crew working on the Funny Car, and we’ve made quite a few personnel changes on the Pro Mod car as well, so there’s been a lot of change. Everyone’s been great.

“It’s a little like starting over, so it’s not surprising that might take a little while to get a handle on all the changes we’ve made, but we feel we’re ready.”

Troxel’s double-duty will begin prior to the race itself. She will make two personal appearances on Thursday in the Las Vegas area. Her first will be from 5-6 p.m. PDT at In-N-Out Burger on 2765 E Craig Rd. in North Las Vegas and immediately following, she will race down to the New York, New York Hotel and Casino for an autograph session that will last until 8 p.m.

“The schedule is full, for sure,” Troxel said. “We have a bunch of In-N-Out guests coming out and between the time you get to spend with them and jumping back and forth between the two racecars, the time will be flying by. But I love it. I’d race every day if they’d let me.”

Qualifying for the 12th annual Summitracing.com NHRA Nationals begin at 12:30 p.m. PDT on Friday. Saturday’s qualifying starts at 11 a.m. with the first round of Pro Mod eliminations penciled in for 3:30 p.m. Eliminations begin at 11 a.m. on Sunday. ESPN2 will air the qualifying show on Saturday at 7 p.m. EDT and eliminations will be shown Sunday starting at 4:30 p.m. EDT.

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