Melanie Troxel became just the sixth woman in NHRA history to win a Top Fuel event Sunday by capturing the crown of the season-opening 46th annual CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals. Funny Car sophomore Robert Hight and three-time and reigning Pro Stock champion Greg Anderson also scored big wins at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, assuming the POWERade points lead in their respective categories.

Troxel's final-round victory over David Baca was her easiest pass of the day as Baca smoked his tires at the starting line. Her 4.58-second run sealed the deal. Reigning rookie of the year Hight had to fight hard for his three-foot win over Ron Capps, and Anderson set yet another track record as he collected his 40th win, this one over Mike Edwards.

Melanie Troxel

Eighteen years after her world champion father Mike Troxel won this event in his family-owned Top Alcohol Dragster, Melanie returned to Pomona's famed winner's circle for the first time in her 41-race career. She becomes the eighth female to win in a Professional category.

This one was never in doubt as she streaked away from Baca to clinch the trophy. She proved herself worthy as the day progressed, beating four-time IHRA champ Clay Millican, three-time NHRA champion Tony Schumacher, and red-hot Morgan Lucas.

"It gets media attention to say I'm the 'X' number female racer to win a race, but those of us in the NHRA know that it's no big deal because we've had lots of female winners, especially when you compare us to all the other motorsports," said Troxel, who raced her Skull Gear-sponsored dragster to a runner-up finish here at the final event of the 2005 season. "I'm thrilled there were women before me to pave the way, but really, we just want to be the best team out here, regardless of me being female.

"When [team owner] Don Schumacher called last summer and offered me this ride, I knew I couldn't pass it up. With Don you know you'll have the best car, the best parts, and the best people, so you know you'll have a great chance to succeed."

Considering his team's shoestring budget, Mach 1 racer Baca did a nice job in reaching his third final. He'll have to wait for another day to get his first win.

Rookies J.R. Todd and Hillary Will followed their top-four qualifying efforts with disappointing first-round losses.

Robert Hight

Hight's third win was a struggle from the start. He didn't qualify his Auto Club Ford Mustang until the final time trial. Then he had to beat teammate Eric Medlen and CSK teammates Del Worsham and Phil Burkart Jr. just to get a chance at the win, which was a 4.763- to 4.775-second nail-biter over Capps.

The struggle came when Hight blew up his engine against Worsham and destroyed his primary body. His crew then went on a scavenger hunt and found an adequate backup among the fans in the Top Eliminator Club, where his show car was on display. The thrash continued in the pits when his fire bottles accidentally went off just as they were pulling the car out of the pits for the semifinals.

"We did have a few bad-luck things happen today, but my team came through like professionals," Hight said. "It was lucky for us that John [Force] and Eric [Medlen, teammates] lost early because their crew guys came over and helped us. If they hadn't, we wouldn't have made it up there for the semifinals.

"We blew up the body in the lights in round two, and the guys had to go get the old one that AAA had on display. Then the fire bottles went off, and those things take forever to change out. Jimmy [Prock, crew chief] was calling us on the radio and when we told him the fire bottles went off, he said we were done. But everyone jumped in and switched them out. It was awesome to see."

Capps can't be too upset with his runner-up finish; his Brut Dodge Stratus R/T was by far the most consistent hot rod on the property. All eight runs he made this weekend were within four-hundredths of a second.

After running the quickest pass in NHRA history during qualifying, a stellar 4.664-second blast, 13-time Funny Car champion Force failed to back up the mark to make it an official national record. By rule, any potential record run must be supported by another pass within 1 percent of the original.

Both Force and reigning champ Gary Scelzi lost in the quarterfinals.

Greg Anderson

Three-time and reigning Pro Stock world champion Anderson won his 36th race of the last 70 national events in convincing fashion, dismissing challenger Edwards with a 6.665 at 207.75 mph. Anderson's elapsed time in his Summit Racing Pontiac GTO equaled the track mark he set in qualifying, and his top speed set an Auto Club Raceway record.

"It's not as easy as it looks, I swear," Anderson said. "I'm sorry if I'm boring [the media], but we've just been on such a roll over the last few years. It's still a struggle and I lose sleep every night worrying about what everyone else is doing, but we've managed to stay ahead.

"I think when we ran the 6.66 in qualifying it kind of knocked the wind out of everyone else's sails. It got in their heads. But really it will just make them angry, and they'll come out hungry in Phoenix. We have a long way to go this year, but we're off to a great start."

An 11-time winner on tour, Edwards has now gone three and a half years without a victory. But after two years of finishing outside the POWERade top 10, his second-place ranking in the points should soothe the pain.

The Young Life racer looked great all day, averaging a .023-second reaction time in his four eliminations rounds. His best start was a .006-second launch against Kurt Johnson, which yielded a 6.733- to 6.718-second holeshot win.

Anderson's victims included Bob Panella, "Tricky Rickie" Smith, and Larry Morgan.

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