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Angelle Sampey Officially Retires

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.”

Will Fan Death Cause Another Knee Jerk Reaction?

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.

Video: Interview With Courtney and Brittany Force

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.

Video: Interview With Melanie Troxel

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

Should NHRA Start Giving Away Tickets?

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

John Force Racing-What Would You Do

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.

Force Hood, Still Not Getting Her Props

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!

NHRA Introduces New Point System With Bonuses Awarded

Prior to moving the finish line to 1,000 feet in the wake of Scott Kalitta’s death, the NHRA awarded bonus points for setting a national record for elapsed time. Once the finish line was moved, E.T. records were obsolete and no longer applied to the new finishing distance. Now with over a full year racing to the new, shorter distance, the NHRA will recognize national records in Top Fuel and Funny Car and create a new bonus point system for pro qualifying sessions.

The start of the NHRA Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship at the NHRA Carolinas Nationals at zMAX Dragway in Concord, N.C. will begin the of recognizing national records and the new bonus point structure. NHRA will recognize official national elapsed time and speed records to 1,000 feet for both Top Fuel and Funny Car. Teams that set a national record for elapsed time (E.T.) will be awarded 20 points.  Speed records are not eligible for bonus points. The starting point for the national record will be established using the quickest times and fastest speeds to 1,000-feet that were backed up by another performance within 1 percent during the course of a single event weekend, occurring since 1,000-foot racing started at the midway point of 2008.  Those drivers who currently hold the national records in each category will not retroactively receive the 20 point bonus.

In order for performances to be certified as NHRA national records, the eligible performance must be backed up by another performance within 1 percent during the course of a single event weekend. Only one 20 point bonus will be awarded in each category per event.

The current 1,000-foot E.T. and speed records in Top Fuel and Funny Car are as follows:

Top Fuel
E.T. — Tony Schumacher, 3.771 sec., Richmond, Va. (Oct. 2008)
Speed — Tony Schumacher, 318.92 mph, Las Vegas (Nov. 2008)

Funny Car
E.T. — Ron Capps, 4.023 sec., Phoenix (Feb. 2009)
Speed — Ashley Force Hood, 312.13 mph, Atlanta (April 2009)

In addition, NHRA announced a new bonus points structure that will offer teams opportunities to score critical points during qualifying sessions in all four professional categories: Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle.   The team in each category with the quickest elapsed time during each qualifying session will receive three bonus points.   In all, a team that records the lowest E.T. in all four sessions could receive a total of 12 bonus points during qualifying.  Teams with the second and third quickest elapsed times during each qualifying session will receive 2 and 1 bonus points, respectively.

These changes are designed to enhance the qualifying sessions by encouraging more side-by-side racing and providing an opportunity for all competitors to earn additional points toward their standing in the top 10, as well as their pursuit of NHRA Full Throttle Series world championship titles.

Although records will be recorded to 1,000 feet in the two nitromethane categories, NHRA continues to evaluate and test combinations to reduce power in the Top Fuel and Funny Car categories.  Only after testing and analysis is concluded will a decision be made on whether to remain at 1,000 feet or return to quarter-mile racing in the two classes.

NHRA 2010 Schedule Out: Some Good, Some Bad

The NHRA released the schedule for the 2010 Full Throttle Drag Racing Series earlier this week and I will have to admit that some changes I like, others I disagree with. Because most people enjoy controversy I’ll start with the dislikes. What is up with the addition of a second race date at zMax Dragway in Charlotte? I get that Charlotte is rapidly approaching the same level of status as Indianapolis in regards to being a motorsports Mecca but I thought the NHRA was out of the game of awarding new tracks with multiple dates. History has proven time and time again that double dates outside of Los Angeles rarely work. Read more

Wishy Washy NHRA

It seems the NHRA and the powers within are up to their same old tricks. Just when you think they may be showing signs of sensibility with their efforts to get nitro cars back to 1320 foot racing, something I feel is integral to the heritage of our sport, and with their continued efforts to offer their loyal spectator base discounted tickets, they go and kick the guys in the groin who make the whole deal go round, the racers.

The restrictions on testing implemented by the NHRA for the 2009 season were made clear to the teams well before the first event of the season in Pomona, CA. This was done as a way to level the playing field between the “haves”, like Schumacher, Force and Bernstein and the “have not’s” like Gary Densham, Joe Hartley and Terry Haddock during tough economic times.

In a statement issued to all the teams from NHRA VP of Racing Operations Graham Light, it was made clear that no driver or individual team could exceed four test sessions over the duration of the 2009 season, once the Winternationals had begun. That included Monday testing after NHRA sanctioned events, competing in International Hot Rod Association events and independent test sessions. This quote comes directly from the issued statement; “In an ongoing effort to assist in curtailing escalating costs associated with the operation of Professional nitromethane-category vehicles (Top Fuel and Funny Car), NHRA has implemented the following testing limitations for the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season. Unlimited testing for Top Fuel and Funny Car teams will be permitted until the 2009 season opener at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, Feb. 5. At that point, and during the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season (Feb. 5 to Nov. 15), Professional nitromethane teams will be limited to a maximum of four one-day test sessions. This policy applies to both the team and driver.” And until this past Monday that policy seemed to be enforced as it was introduced in the off-season.

Enter John Force Racing.

With the very real threat that one of his heavily sponsored teams, the AAA Auto Club of California Mustang driven by his son-in-law Robert Hight, may not make the Countdown to the Championship, the patriarch of JFR made the decision that he would put Hight in his Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford for the next two events leading up to the countdown. Now that move in and of itself is completely within the boundaries of what a team owner can do. However, when that driver switches vehicles, which Force made perfectly clear was happening directly following the conclusion of the Lucas Oil Nationals in Brainerd, MN, that means the driver points earned that season transfer to the new team essentially making that team the one associated with Robert Hight.

This is where the head scratching begins. On Monday following the Brainerd event Hight tested with his “new” team behind the wheel of Force’s Castrol sponsored Funny Car. The only problem being that Hight had already used his maximum of four test sessions for the season which, given the original guidelines provided to the teams for the testing restrictions, would mean that no matter what vehicle he was driving, he no longer had any test sessions available in 2009. On the other hand Force’s “former” team had only used two of their potential four test days to that point in the season. The NHRA states that they granted JFR permission to conduct the test, claiming that the Castrol GTX High Mileage team that Hight tested for, still had two test days remaining, regardless of who was driving the car…BUT WAIT A SECOND…wasn’t this the final line in the statement issued in January; “This policy applies to both the team and driver.”?

So was this a case of flagrant disregard for the rules on a part of John Force Racing? Not at all. He asked the permission of the NHRA before making the move. What this is is another perfect example of the NHRA’s blatant disregard for the handling of relationships with their professional competitors. Sure, John Force is happy because he got to put Hight in the seat to get a feel for his new ride, but what about the other teams who have been using qualifying sessions as testing in order to ensure they stay ahead of the curve?

Well the answer is obvious only three days after the incident took place. Ron Capps, who drives the NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger for Don Schumacher Racing, couldn’t believe that the NHRA allowed this to take place given the way it was laid out to everyone from the start. And how about Terry Haddock who had prior commitments, made before the restrictions were made public, for the 2009 season? He even went so far as to notify the NHRA once he found out about the restrictions in order to let them know that he had already made other commitments. But did the NHRA grant him an exemption for those non-NHRA sanctioned events? Not a chance. Instead they stuck to the ruling that, no matter where the driver is competing it counts towards their allotment of testing days.

So, now you have Terry Haddock, the ultimate salt of the earth independent trying to make a living racing with no major sponsorship, sitting in 12^th position in the points, might I point out the same position as Hight currently sits, who was penalized by not being able to earn points at one of the NHRA events he competed in because of his participation in other previously committed to events. Here is a guy who has helped the NHRA at several events this season by filling out some very thin Top Fuel fields and that finishing in the top ten in points would be a huge boost to. And let’s be honest, he poses no real threat to win the championship this year, so why penalize him and allow the guy who has finished as runner-up for the championship and has more money than Terry Haddock can dream about to break the rules?

Your guess is as good as mine, but I’ve got a few!