It was the first time an American driver and team came over to take part in an FIA European Championship race. The idea unfolded after Michael Gullqvist won NHRA’s Atlanta race driving for US team owner Roger Burgess in the Get Screened America Pro Mod Series. To return the favour, Burgess at first planned to send a new blower for the Swedish racer’s own Pro Mod Bel Air but ended up sending a car, a crew and Melanie Troxel. Within one week everything was arranged and on Saturday afternoon, after some delay with customs in Amsterdam, the car arrived at Santa Pod Raceway.



While team manager Travis Rice, crew chief Al Billes, blower expert Darren Mayer and their crew prepared everything for racing, Melanie held autograph sessions, talked with the fans and did a perfect job promoting the sport. With her friendly attitude she stole the hearts of all the fans. In the press conference, Melanie tempered any high expectations.


Mechanic Mark Savage (left) and master tuner Al Billes

“On a test day with our team, I drive all our cars and sometimes make 25 runs a day, so the Camaro is not new for me. But we race on concrete tracks. Santa Pod is asphalt and we’ll need runs to tune the car for this track. We’ll start with a conservative set-up and try to qualify and improve during the race. As in America, the European Pro Mod field is very strong. The cars look good, there’s a great diversity in types of car and it’s very professional.”


R2B2 mechanic Jim Elliott

Melanie started with a 6.57 and improved to 6.24 to take the seventh qualifying position. In the first round of eliminations Melanie had to lift when the car veered to the centre line but she showed her driving skills by getting the car back in the groove once more. The 6.6 was not enough to beat Adam Flamholc.



But later, on an exhibition pass, Melanie and the R2B2 Racing team impressed with a 5.937sec at 242.42mph/390.14kph, the quickest and fastest Pro Mod run seen in Europe. “We underestimated the asphalt track and needed three runs to find that out. This track is even better than some tracks we race on back home.



In the fourth run we realised we could put more power in it and you saw the result. With some extra testing there is a lot more to come.” Melanie was impressed with the reactions of the European fans. “We felt very welcome and had a great reception.



The fans are so polite, patiently waiting for a signature. The car will stay in Europe with Michael Gullqvist and, if the dates don’t clash, I would love to drive the car again at Mantorp and/or Hockenheim.” We are sure the European fans feel the same and want nothing else than see her back again as soon as possible.



In the press conference, Melanie Troxel, Michael Gullqvist and Keith Bartlett also discussed the WorldWide Pro Mod Association. Michael Gullqvist and Roger Burgess talked about the idea of a Worldwide Pro Mod Challenge when they first met at Hockenheim last year. Exactly how the series will look is still under discussion but it will certainly boost Pro Mod racing if it is to become the only drag racing category to have a genuine world champion.