So, the 2010 season has begun. And it was one of
the most ballyhooed pre-seasons in my recent memory. With a new rules
package, new teams, new tracks, four world drivers champions on the
grid including the return of the seven time champion Michael
Schumacher, it was justifiably predicted to be a landmark year in the
sport.
What I didn’t count on was the landmark could be as the most boring season in decades. As Schumi himself characterized the race:
“It’s the start and then after it is just sort of go your pace and not do mistakes,” Schumacher told the BBC.
“Overtaking is basically impossible, other than if somebody makes a
mistake - Lewis had a little one so Nico was able to pass him, but got
back past at the pitstop. That’s about it.
“That’s the action we are going to have with unfortunately this kind of environment of race strategy.
“But, anyway, it was good fun. Especially the beginning and now we
are going to work forward in order to catch up what is in front of us.”
Whodathunk that the first race could be so boring as to actually
cause me to leave the screen to tend to some morning chores. And upon
my return what did I miss? Nada. Nothing. Niente.
There will be some who will be quick to blame the Sakhir course as
another non passable Tilke designed monstrosity. Nonsense say I. It’s
still the same old story of fast cars, aero reduced passing chances and
no engine differentials worth mentioning, all in conjunction with a
Tilke designed crap track.
Let’s hope the next stop in Melbourne presents more competitive on
track action. If not I fear for my interest in the balance of the
season.
Angelle Sampey, the winningest female in professional motorsports history, is hanging up her helmet and leathers and announced her retirement from professional drag racing today. Sampey, who totaled 41 victories during a 13-year NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle career, is planning to pursue other career opportunities while looking to start a family with her fiance, Seth Drago.
“I’m ready for a new challenge, including opening Coral Fever, a store specializing in fish, coral and aquariums,” said the 39-year-old Sampey. “I made the ultimate sacrifice to postpone starting a family when I began racing. Now, I’m going to make the ultimate sacrifice to stop racing to get married (in June) and then try and start a family.”
While racing, Sampey also went by the names Angelle Seeling and Angelle Savoie but changed her name back to her maiden name of Sampey. The Louisiana native made her NHRA debut in 1996 at Bandimere Speedway outside of Denver. There she immediately raised eyebrows by advancing to the semifinals. She recorded her first win in her first final round later that season at Reading, Pa. in the fourth event of her career.
“I will take away so many great memories from racing,” she said. “I’m certainly going to miss being around my fellow racers and, of course, the fans. I really enjoyed meeting the fans at every race. They were always there for me through the good times and the bad times.”
Sampey’s most prolific string of wins came in the 2000, 2001 and 2002 seasons when she won three world championships and collected 18 wins.
“Obviously, that was an extraordinarily exciting time period,” Sampey said. “I never imagined I could have that kind of success. I was very fortunate to be surrounded by a lot of talented people including George Bryce (her crew chief during each championship season).”
It was in 2001 when Sampey became the winningest female in NHRA history, moving past Shirley Muldowney on the list. Coincidentally, Sampey’s record breaking win came at bandimere Speedway, the same race track where she made her professional debut. She went on to record seven wins that season which remains the most wins ever recorded in a single season by a female competitor in NHRA history.
“To be honest, it was tough to comprehend what I had done after I surpassed Shirley’s win total (18),” Sampey said. “After all, Shirley is one of the sport’s legends. I look up to her.”
Among Sampey’s final stats will be 364 round wins out of 506 total rounds of competition. Sampey notched a winning percentage of roughly 72 percent while competing in Pro Stock Motorcycle.
“Again, I want to emphasize that I had a bunch of people help me along the way,” Sampey said. “I could spend a day or more thanking each and every one. I’ll never forget any of them.”
Perhaps, the one mark Sampey wishes she could have broken before exiting the sport was the most wins in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class. That mark of 45 wins was established by the late Dave Schultz.
“That’s probably true,” Sampey said. “I clearly could’ve hung around just to try and break that record. But, as I stated, it’s time for a change.”
If you haven’t heard by now either via other internet racing websites, social networking websites or saw it reported on ESPN, a female spectator was killed after being struck by the left rear wheel of Antron Brown’s dragster after it lost control Sunday. The woman was pronounced dead at Good Samaritan Hospital after suffering fatal injuries at Firebird international raceway outside of Phoenix. Naturally, all within the racing community are saddened by the news of her passing.
This marks the first time in my memory that an NHRA fan has died as a result of the racing on the track. Other racing series have had fans killed or injured as a result of crashes on the track. In 1999 during an IRL race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a wheel flew into the grandstands as a result of a crash, killing three people. After the accident, the track’s catch fence was raised an additional six feet.
Whenever a major catastrophic event occurs, tracks and sanctioning bodies tend to react swiftly and unilaterally in the wake of the event. They want to show “good faith” in that they are fixing the problem. The NHRA is particularly adept at making these knee jerk reactions in the wake of tragedy.
In 1999, Doug Herbert suffered a massive engine explosion at the starting line that sprayed debris 200 feet away into the crowd and photographers near the starting line. (Image at left) The NHRA announced the first limitation on the percentage of nitromethane, allowing a maximum of 90%.
In 2004 Top Fuel driver Darrell Russell dies as a result of flying debris from an exploding tire that entered the driver’s cockpit. Numerous rule changes were handed down within weeks including tire changes and requirements and another reduction in the percentage of nitro used in the Top Fuel and Funny Car classes.
In 2008 following the death of Funny Car driver Scott Kalitta, the NHRA shortened the racing distance from a quarter-mile to 1,000 feet. That rule change remains in effect this season. Many believe the days of Top Fuel dragsters and nitro Funny Cars traversing a quarter-mile course are never coming back.
The pattern is clear that the NHRA reacts quickly whenever tragedy strikes. I would not be surprised if the NHRA announces prior to the start of the next race in Gainesville, Fla. that all tracks need to install catch fences much like the ones you see at Nascar or open wheel race tracks. Although that may be “the right thing to do” it may not be needed.
The recent death of the spectator in Phoenix, although tragic, was a freak accident. Because drag racing is a linear sport in that the two competitors are competing in a straight line, the major impact zone is down track where fans are not seated. In oval racing like Nascar or Indy Car, because the cars are making turns, debris from a crash or a crashed car itself could be propelled towards spectators. Catch fences in these forms of racing are needed to protect the fans. Catch fences in NHRA, in my opinion, are not needed.
Again, the death of the female spectator in Phoenix is a tragedy. Could her death been prevented by a catch fence in place? No one knows for sure. Comparing catch fence success rates at Nascar or Indy Car races and applying that data to NHRA is like comparing apples to oranges. The speeds are different, the equipment is different and the trajectory of debris is even different. It would be merely speculation as to if a fence would have prevented this accident from injuring and killing the spectator.
In a recently article published by ESPN, NHRA fans don’t want safety changes. A number of fans interviewed in the story believe that they all know the inherent risks they take when attending a drag race. Many fans choose to stand as close to the starting line as possible in order to feel the vibrations of the race cars as they launch. So if the fans are unconcerned and say they will continue to attend, why should the NHRA make a sweeping change? They shouldn’t
This was a freak accident. I know those words do not come as any comfort to the friends and family currently mourning the death of the spectator but this was a very rare occurrence. Unfortunately, in today’s overly litigious society, the NHRA will have to make some changes in preparation for an impending lawsuit you know is coming down the pike. So to all of you that want to experience and enjoy the NHRA “without a net”, you better do it soon. I am willing to bet the next time you go to a drag race, you’ll be watching it though the holes of a fence.
Written by David Lamm · Filed Under Featured, NHRA
A lot of the times, we in the motor sports media tend to focus on the big time professionals. You know, the John Forces and Larry Dixon’s of the racing world. But there are exceptions to that rule when it comes to Courtney and Brittany Force. Both race in the Top Alcohol Dragster category within the NHRA’s Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series. (The Lucas Oil series is considered “non-professional” in that there is prize money awarded but it is on a smaller scale compared to the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.)
While out in Pomona, Calif. for the 50th running of the Winternationals, I had a chance to speak with both Courtney Force and Brittany Force regarding their plans for racing beyond A-Fuel dragsters, unsolicited advice from their father, John Force, and what the upcoming 2010 season has in store.
Written by David Lamm · Filed Under Featured, NHRA
The NHRA 2010 Full Throttle Drag Racing series opened for business on Thursday with qualifying. Back on the track in a Nitro Funny Car was Melanie Troxel, the only female driver to win races in both Top Fuel and Funny Car. This time she is backed by none other than In-N-Out Burger, the same sponsor that was on her Alcohol Dragster in the late 1990’s prior to her turning professional. I caught up with Melanie at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif. and was able to ask her a few questions. Read more
There is no escaping the wide reaching effects of the economic recession we are currently in. Industries once thought to be “recession-proof” have been hit hard forcing layoffs or wage decreases. The NHRA was not immune to this and just two weeks ago issued pink slips to a number of its employees, some of whom had worked for the NHRA for over 40 years. These layoffs might have been prevented had the NHRA chosen to give away tickets to their races rather than charging for them. Read more
Written by David Lamm · Filed Under Featured, NHRA
It’s the big (little) Petit Le Mans wrap up show with Chris and Declan Brennan of Midweek Motorsport on RadioLeMans.com. We also touch on the silly season in F1, the looming IndyCar championship, and the arrest of JC France!
Let us know what you think by commenting on this posting, or shoot Chris, George and Josh an email by sending to radio@fastmachines.com. Also check us out on Twitter “@fastmachines.
Click below to listen to us right now in your browser…
After much searching, high and low….we found our motivation to podcast again! Bailey’s baby girl has arrived and Josh and George uhh…I don’t know what their excuse is….but they are back. We talk this week about the big news from F1…Flavio Briatore’s life ban from the sport for race fixing. Not to mention the so called race fixng going on in the NHRA with one John Force. (Pssst….Mark Martin could finally get a championship…..shhhh….don’t jinx him). We also get a nice preview of Petit LeMans from Chris who will be on the scene for the race. And naturally we talk Grand Am vs. ALMS. Check the show notes for all the links and goodies.
Let us know what you think by commenting on this posting, or shoot Chris, George and Josh an email by sending to radio@fastmachines.com. Also check us out on Twitter “@fastmachines.
Click below to listen to us right now in your browser…
I had a reader comment on my last article about Ashley Force Hood and the lack of respect she garners as a world class race car driver. The reader proceeded to provide his opinion on a number of topics including the events that took place at the recently completed U.S. Nationals revolving around John Force Racing.
The first point, which is well taken, was that the NHRA needs to revisit the rule of allowing teams to field more than two cars in any one professional division. I have to say that I agree to some degree with the reader about NHRA needing to limit the number of cars per team, per division and I think that would make sense from the standpoint of allowing other, lower budget teams an opportunity to compete for more race wins and potentially the championship. However, what that does in turn is take away a number of sponsored teams that would not be in the sport if it weren’t for the multi-car opportunities that exist. John Force Racing and Don Schumacher Racing can offer those companies exposure across six or more teams making that partnership far more valuable than it would be where they looking at single or two car teams. By minimizing those multi-car teams you then face a crossroads of either not having enough competitors to fill the existing 16 car fields, or filling those 16 spots with inferior teams which will in turn cause increased oil down delays and unhappy spectators. Drag racing fans are some of the most educated in all of motorsports and they know if they are getting what they paid for as far as entertainment value goes and won’t stand for a subpar product very long.
The second point the reader made was in regards to John Force intentionally throwing his semi-final matchup against teammate Robert Hight at the U.S. Nationals. And although we all know Force threw the race in order to get his fourth team car into the Countdown to the Championship, you can’t blame him for playing within the rules that the NHRA has laid out. In all fairness to John he only did what several other teams would have done were they put in the same position. Don Schumacher would most certainly have done that given his savvy with sponsorship relations and the opportunity to move up in the standings in an effort to earn more, albeit not very much, championship money. And I believe that given the same circumstances the Pedregon brothers Tony and Cruz would have opted for the same scenario as Force where dollar signs and long term sustainability far out ruled winning or losing one round of competition. The NHRA rules clearly indicate that if the drivers performance or the tune-up of the car do not directly relate to an obvious attempt on the teams part to fix a race then there is nothing they can do to penalize the team. Yes, John cut a .209 reaction time and Hight made his slowest pass of the weekend, but those two elements combined are not enough to prove that the race was fixed. The NHRA even went so far as to analyze the tune-up data from Force’s pass, which it turns out would have been conducive to a representative run for that team.So how can you hate them or penalize them for playing within the rules?
Yes, the spirit of our sport is competition, and that’s what the fans pay to see, but they also pay to be entertained and there’s no arguing that the drama which ensued directly following that run and which has continued to feed the fire this week is just as exciting for the fans as seeing John and Robert duke it out during the semi-finals at the U.S. Nationals, if not more exciting.
I say stay tuned, this will make for some great sound bites and intriguing matchups for the duration of the championship battle.
Written by Jory Elliott · Filed Under Featured, NHRA
When will the sporting world wise up and realize that Danica Patrick is no more than a has-been that never was and start paying attention to the “real” number one female competitor in motorsports in the world, Ashley Force Hood.
Is there any other woman on the planet that can claim she has gone over 300 miles per hour on land and won the most prestigious race that her sport has to offer? Granted, she has been blessed with a father who has the resources necessary to make those things happen, but it still takes a tremendous amount of guts to get behind the wheel of an 8000 horsepower Funny Car, not to mention the skills necessary to have consistent reaction times and a knowledge base extensive enough to convey important and accurate information to your crew chief.
As much as most of us are sick of the John Force Racing show that basically is the NHRA broadcasts on ESPN, the PR team at NHRA could stand to take the Ashley Force Hood angle to the media in a more aggressive manner, outside of their own broadcasts.
When I listen to Danica talk I hear a self-centred, childish person who doesn’t appreciate how much exposure she gets for really never having accomplished anything significant in her career other than winning a race where the three drivers in front of her ran out of fuel in the final laps. Ashley is exactly the opposite. Such a good role model for young girls aspiring to be all they can be when they grow up, no matter what they choose to do. It’s never pointed out anymore that she is a woman, and that’s part of what makes NHRA so great, but it’s also the drawback that has relegated Ashley to the background as far as women in motorsports goes.
Here we’ve got the daughter of the 14 time class champion who paid her dues in the sportsman ranks before being handed the keys to one of the baddest hot rods on the planet. And she’s struggled with the steep learning curve when making the transition to the professional ranks, which makes for an even better story when you realize that she has a legitimate chance at becoming the first female NHRA Funny Car champion in the history of drag racing this year and on top of that she just won the most prestigious race our sport has to offer, the U.S. Nationals.
So I say let’s cut the crap within the NHRA broadcasts, we know that most of the people watching are quite aware of John Force and his four car dynasty anyways. Let’s use that time to promote the guys like, Clay Millican, Tim Wilkerson, Rickie Jones and Doug Horne, who all bring great stories and in some cases great sponsors to the sport. Let’s put the NHRA’s media team and the PR firms they have working for them to work and get a real push going behind the fact that Ashley Force Hood is the number one female in professional racing…period!
