IN
THE
WIND
P38
Angelle Sampey, Vance & Hines Take
NHRA Indianapolis Victory
H
ell didn't freeze over, and
pigs didn't suddenly learn
to fly, but in an equally unlikely
occurrence, three-time NHRA
Pro Stock Motorcycle Champion
Angelle Sampey won an event
riding a Harley-Davidson for
the Vance & Hines team. Once
sworn enemies, the two formed
an improbable alliance two years
ago, and it finally paid dividends
when Sampey defeated first-time
finalist Chris Bostick to win the
Dodge NHRA Indy Nationals title,
August 7-9.
For Sampey, the win came just
two days after her 50th birthday,
and more than four years after
her most recent win at the 2016
Englishtown race. In the final,
Sampey was nearly perfect off
the starting line with a .001 reac-
tion time and ran a 6.880 for the
victory as Bostick trailed with a
6.950. Moments earlier, the final
was in doubt when Sampey's
crew had to make last-minute
repairs to a faulty clutch cable.
Quick action by the Vance &
Hines team got the problem fixed
in time for her to make the run
and win for the 43rd time in her
career.
"I just tried to stay calm be-
cause I didn't know if they were
going to get my bike fixed in
time," said Sampey. "Chris was
doing such a good job and luck
seemed to be on his side. They
got it fixed and we got it done.
Thank you, Vance & Hines and
Harley-Davidson. I told you I was
going to do it. I'll bet you thought
I was dead but I'm not dead.
Happy birthday to me!"
If not for Sampey's impressive
performance, the Dodge NHRA
Indy Nationals might well have
been the third-straight event to
feature a first-time winner in the
Pro Stock Motorcycle class.
Rookie Jianna Salinas earned
her first victory at the 2019 Auto
Club Finals in Pomona and sev-
eral weeks ago at the E3 Spark
Plugs NHRA Nationals in Indy,
Ryan Oehler also collected his
first NHRA title.
Bostick nearly joined that
group when he reached the first
final of his career. Racing in his
22nd career Pro Stock Motor-
cycle race, Bostick parked his
own Suzuki for the weekend and
leased a bike from the Stoffer/
Underdahl team. That proved to
be a wise decision as he nearly
doubled his career win total of
four rounds on Sunday by beat-
ing Angie Smith, Oehler and
Eddie Krawiec.
Kevin McKenna
Results
1. Angelle Sampey (H-D)
2. Chris Bostick (Suz)
Former champ
Angelle Sampey
won her first
NHRA race since
2016, and she
did it on a Vance
& Hines Harley-
Davidson.
