VOLUME 58 ISSUE 42 OCTOBER 19, 2021 P37
Las Vegas and Pomona, Califor-
nia, rounds remaining. Sampey
also became the first Pro Stock
Motorcycle rider to win a race
at historic Bristol Dragway. The
track, nestled in a tree-lined can-
yon at the foot of the Appalachian
Mountains, has hosted an NHRA
event for 15 years, but the Pro
Stock Motorcycle class had not
been included until this season.
"I love this track; it's so beauti-
ful here, but it's also bumpy and
it was tricky out there today,"
Sampey said. "The biggest task
was for me to get it straight down
the track. I had to stay on the
throttle against Karen. Going into
first round, I was so nervous. But
it seems like when I'm nervous,
that's when I usually do well.
When there's so much going
on around me, it seems like
that's when I do the best on the
racetrack. I'm so proud of Vance
& Hines and that was a heck of a
race in the final round."
Sampey didn't have an easy
time on race day as she had to
win races against both of her
Vance & Hines teammates, An-
drew Hines and Eddie Krawiec.
She also raced Chris Bostick,
who red-lighted.
Sampey was consistent for the
most part with a 6.821 against
Hines and a 6.814 against
Krawiec, which was her quickest
run of the weekend before the
final.
Stoffer wasn't considered a
favorite to win the race until the
final four, when she unloaded a
6.78 elapsed time, the quickest
run of the weekend to that point.
Stoffer needed that run since
she was up against points leader
Smith, who had also been the
second-quickest qualifier on his
Denso Buell. Stoffer's also de-
feated Ron Tornow to reach her
second final round this season
and 25th in her career.
Heading into the penultimate
round in Las Vegas, Smith leads
Sampey by 25 points with Steve
Johnson still in the mix, 56
points behind.
Kevin McKenna
FINAL
1. Angelle Sampey (Suz)
2. Karen Stoffer (Suz)
Karen Stoffer made it an
all-women, all-Suzuki final.
