weekend as performances were
generally held in check.
Savoie was only seventh-quick-
est in qualifying, but he managed
to earn wins against four-time
champ Eddie Krawiec, Joey Glad-
stone and Angie Smith to reach
the final. Smith actually had the
best bike on race day with a best
of 6.801-seconds, but she slowed
to a 6.984 which was just enough
to allow Savoie to slip past with a
6.979 elapsed time. That was the
break he needed.
"I definitely got lucky there,"
Savoie said. "She had a really fast
bike, but we did what we needed
to do in order to get the win.
Sometimes, that's what it takes."
Early on, Sampey would have
to be considered the favorite for
several reasons. First, she won
the Bristol event last year and she
was also the low qualifier with a
solid 6.874 run on her Mission
Foods Suzuki.
Sampey, made her way to
the final with wins against LE
Tongelt, Ryan Oehler and Marc
Ingwersen. Like Savoie, Sampey
also caught a few breaks along
the way, particularly in her race
against Ingwersen. Sampey trailed
from the start, and Ingwersen ap-
peared headed for his first career
final round. Then, his V-twin went
silent and Sampey was able to
ride past for the unlikely victory.
"For sure, I had some luck
today, "Sampey said. "That round
was especially lucky. I actually feel
bad for Marc because he's been
out here a while and he's starting
to make a lot of progress."
The Bristol event was not kind
to championship leaders Steve
Johnson and Karen Stoffer.
Johnson, coming off two wins
early this season, lost in the
second round to Angie Smith
while Stoffer was never able to
get a handle on the Bristol track
surface and qualified number 13.
She lost to Ingwersen in round
one. Reigning champ Matt Smith
also lost to Ingwersen in the
quarterfinal round.
The NHRA Camping World
Drag Racing Series returns
to action next weekend, June
23-26 with the Summit Racing
Equipment NHRA Nationals in
Norwalk, Ohio.
Kevin McKenna
FINAL
1. Jerry Savoie (Suz)
2. Angelle Sampey (Suz)
VOLUME 59 ISSUE 25 JUNE 21, 2022 P51
Favored to win, Vance & Hines Suzuki's Angelle Sampey red-lighted in the final.
