IN
THE
WIND
P36
Sampey Claimes 45th Career NHRA Win
S
uddenly, the notion of Vance
& Hines Suzuki's Angelle
Sampey winning a fourth NHRA
Camping World Pro Stock Mo-
torcycle Championship isn't so
far-fetched.
Sampey won her third cham-
pionship in 2002, and many be-
lieved it would be her last, even
after she joined the powerful
Vance & Hines team three sea-
sons ago. Fast forward to 2022
and Sampey is not only competi-
tive, but she's one of the favorites
after winning her second race of
the season at the NHRA Thunder
Valley Nationals in Bristol, Ten-
nessee, October 15-17.
Racing against WAR Suzuki's
Karen Stoffer in a rare but not
unheard of all-female final round,
Sampey won a close battle, with
her 6.77 elapsed time holding
off Stoffer's quicker 6.76, thanks
in large part to a nearly perfect
reaction time off the starting line.
Sampey, who debuted with Stof-
fer 25 years ago at the Denver
round, quickly acknowledged
the historical significance of
her latest victory. Her 45th win,
Sampey is now tied with the late
Dave Schultz for third-most in the
class. Only Hines and Kraweic
have more with 56 and 49 wins,
respectively.
"I've been out here for so long,
I've really learned to appreciate
everything I get now," Sam-
pey said. "When I win a race,
the emotions are 100-percent
genuine because it's a task to get
it done. To get four round wins
is really tough and it means so
much to me. I love this sport so
much and this team just works so
hard. This mission was to catch
back up in the points race and
we made it happen. It was a fan-
tastic day and it would be great to
get the number one back on the
motorcycle."
There were other reasons for
Sampey to celebrate the win.
First and foremost, she was
able to pull to within 25 points of
leaders Matt Smith with only the
Angelle Sampey
put herself into the
championship hunt with
a victory at the Bristol
round of the NHRA
Pro Stock Motorcycle
Championship.
PHOTOS: MATT POLITO
