ever been to win. And I was emo-
tionally torn because I wanted to
win it so bad for my friends and
family back at home. I wanted
to win it for my team. I wanted to
win for Vance & Hines and Mis-
sion but I hated to take it away
from Joey in that fashion."
Sampey was a finalist earlier
this year in Pomona and the
recent U.S. Nationals at Indy, but
she hadn't been able to find the
winner's circle since returning
to a Suzuki this season. Sam-
pey qualified number two with a
6.848 and rode to wins against
Ryan Oehler and Vance & Hines
teammates Andrew Hines and
Eddie Krawiec during Sunday's
final eliminations. Sampey
reached the final with runs of
6.907 and 6.863. The win over
Hines was especially rewarding
since Sampey used a starting-
line holeshot to get the job done.
"We have struggled this year
without Suzuki," Sampey said.
"I didn't think it was going to be
this hard, especially after learning
how to ride a Harley, because that
was pretty tough, and I mastered
it. And just when I got it, they took
it away from me and put me on
this rocket ship. I was struggling
on the bike, but I finally am com-
ing around with it. I'm not exactly
where I need to be."
Gladstone, who also rides a
Vance & Hines prepared Suzuki,
qualified a solid number four with
a pair of 6.88s, and then rode
to wins against Jianna Salinas,
before taking on his team-
mate, Reed. That race ended
in disaster when Reed's bike
crossed into Gladstone's lane
after the finish line. Reed's rear
tire hit Gladstone's bike. Glad-
stone managed to stay upright,
but Reed hit the pavement while
his bike tumbled. Reed sat up
quickly, grabbing his ankle. He
was conscious and alert while
transported to a local hospital.
Gladstone returned for his
semifinal race against Steve
Johnson, the low qualifier and
incoming points leader. Johnson
appeared to have won the race,
but his bike clipped a timing
block near the finish line which
resulted in a disqualification.
There are four races left in
the season and the battle for the
Camping World NHRA Champi-
onship is very much up in the air.
Johnson remains the leader, but
he's just 17 points ahead of Sam-
pey who has moved into second.
Matt Smith, Eddie Krawiec,
Scotty Pollacheck and Gladstone
are also in contention, with just
101 points separating the top six.
Kevin McKenna
VOLUME 58 ISSUE 38 SEPTEMBER 21, 2021 P33
Sampey went up against Steve Johnson, who appeared to have the
win but a mechanical in the final denied him the chance.
