POMONA, Calif. (Nov. – Drag racing superstar Melanie Troxel and the In-N-Out Burger Toyota Funny Car team will try to end the 2011 season in winning style at this weekend’s Auto Club NHRA Finals.

“We’ve come a long way since the last time we were in Pomona back in February,” Troxel said. “The car really struggled back then, but we’ve really made a lot of progress throughout the season.

“I think we’ve got a car capable of playing spoiler this weekend, and we’ll certainly do our best to knock out some contenders on our way to the winner’s circle on Sunday.”

At the start of the season the R2B2 Racing team had trouble getting their car to simply go down the track. Over the past month, Troxel has been regularly qualifying in the top half of the field, a marked improvement.

“Aaron Brooks, John Medlen and the rest of the guys have put a lot of work getting the car together,” Troxel said. “We can make good runs when we need to. Now we just need a little more consistency and some luck. There is no better place to get both than in the back yard of In-N-Out Burger.”

Before the race gets started Troxel will meet fans from 5-6 p.m. Wednesday at the In-N-Out Burger store at 1261 S Lone Hill Ave. in Glendora, Calif.

“Besides eating a Double-Double, the in-store appearances have become one of my favorite parts or racing in In-N-Out country,” Troxel said. “You get to meet so many people who aren’t necessarily drag racing fans. They are always impressed seeing an 8,000 horsepower Funny Car sitting out front and we always wind up with more fans at the end of these appearances.”

Qualifying for the Auto Club NHRA Finals get under way on Thursday at noon PST with a single session. Qualifying continues Friday with a single session starting at noon and Saturday with two sessions starting at 11 a.m. Sunday’s eliminations start at 11 a.m. ESPN2 will air the qualifying show starting a 10:30 p.m. EST on Saturday and the elimination show starting at 7 p.m. EST.

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Contact: Geiger Media at 832-971-9345 or rob@go2geiger.com.

Please visit www.R2B2Racing.com for more information.