This quick blog entry is to answer a Fan Mail question for Clayton and Jessica Murray. They e-mailed wondering about how Mel and I met, so I wanted to take the time to answer them. Sorry it’s taken so long, but this drag racing job keeps us quite busy. I hope this answers suffices. I’ll try and make this short and sweet.

I think we first met in Pueblo, Colo., in about 1986 or ’87. I was running a Top Alcohol Funny Car and her dad, Mike Troxel, was racing Top Alcohol Dragster. Mel’s mom, Barb, brought her over to meet my sister, Wendy. Our families became friends because we both raced Division 5 and we’d see each other at both national events and divisional races. When I won my first national event at Columbus in 1987 in TA/FC, Melanie was standing on the steps of the tower with Wendy during the final round.

Back then, Mel was a little to young for me. We joke about how she used to have a crush on me. Eventually, we lost touch after I went to Top Fuel racing in the early ‘90s. Then, when she started running Top Fuel in 2000, I got to see her at the track every so often and we started talking and catching up. I finally asked her to dinner. It took awhile for me to convince her to go out to dinner, but when I did, we ended up going to her favorite Mexican restaurant in Denver. The rest is history. We were married in Indy on New Year’s Eve of 2003, and now they call us “The World’s Fastest Couple.” Just remember, I’m the faster half!

Thanks for the Fan Mail questions. Keep them coming.