Angelle Sampey Scores First NHRA No. 1 Qualifying Spot on Four Wheels

Angelle Sampey quickly is getting the hang of four-wheeled racing.

In just her second race in the Top Alcohol Dragster class, the three-time NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle champion qualified No. 1 Saturday at the Nevada Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a 5.190-second elapsed time at 273.22 mph.

“It was amazing—and thr most amazing part about it is it didn’t feel that fast,” she said. “I was kind of nervous, because they said they set the car on kill. And these guys—Samsel Racing—they do this all the time. This is what they do – the go No. 1 qualifier, and they have the fastest car at the racetrack. I got a little nervous, thinking, ‘Oh, God—what is this going to feel like?’ Took off. Went down the racetrack. It felt smooth. It felt like a Cadillac. I’m like, ‘Oh, maybe we didn’t go that fast.’

“When they came down the track with the time slip, saying I went a 5.19 (sec.), I was so excited. It’s only my second race,” Sampey said. “It’s a little bit humbling, because I know that I really didn’t do anything.” She said she just got to “mash the loud pedal, like (Top Fuel’s) Clay Millican says, and steer it. It’s all what the guys do at the shop and at the racetrack. I’m just the lucky person to be driving it.”

In her debut, at the previous event, at Dallas, Sampey was No. 16 qualifier and reached the semifinals.