MULDOWNEY-SAMPEY FALL SHORT OF TOP FUEL DEAL

Team owner Shirley Muldowney and driver Angelle Sampey, each of whom owns three National Hot Rod Association championships, were ready to report to Top Fuel duty this season with a National Guard-sponsored dragster.
 
But the Guard retreated from its offer, Muldowney said Saturday, sinking more of its promotional dollars into the Hendrick Motorsports NASCAR Sprint Cup Series program -- and missing out, she said on "probably the best story in motorsports."
 
"They decided drag racing wasn't where they wanted to go -- shamefully -- and took enough money away from our sport where they could have financed three teams for three years. And they handed it to Hendrick (Motorsports)," Muldowney said.
 
She said that some teams and drivers "might say, 'Oh, I'm not going to tell anyone, because I'm embarrassed. Well, we're not embarrassed. They missed (out). How could you trade six world championships and probably the best story in motorsports other than Danica Patrick? Yawn, yawn, yawn, yawn! Yawn City."
 
Dale Earnhardt Jr., one of Rick Hendrick's drivers, has driven with National Guard sponsorship since 2007. The Guard also helps sponsor his stablemate Jeff Gordon.
 
Muldowney said that she and Sampey, who has been eager to follow close friend Antron Brown from the Pro Stock Motorcycle ranks to the 7,000-horsepower nitromethane-fueled Top Fuel class, naturally are disappointed the deal fell through.
 
However, Muldowney said, "When we do find the right deal, I do have the right driver -- I think no doubt the best female driver. She has what it takes. She's my absolute first choice.
 
"I'm very, very, very disappointed," Muldowney said. "But it's a good thing I love our guys (American soldiers). I love our troops. It's not going to change my mind about that. The American flag still flies in my driveway.
 
"But I am extremely disappointed how unprofessional they were, in terms of keeping their word," she said of the National Guard. "You just don't do business like that."
 
Muldowney acknowledged that "it's hard to say, 'We got kicked in the ass again.' But that is the foundation of this sport. Their mouths overrode their asses." Then, sarcastically, she said, "You wouldn't suspect that out of Washington (D.C.), would you, these days?"
 
Muldowney said a "Sgt. Geno Sellers and his colonel" called her from Arlington, Va., and said, "We want you and we want Angelle. They romanced us right to our knees."
 
So the duo, arguably the NHRA's most accomplished and recognizable female drivers, "worked together and we really put a lot of time into it," Muldowney said. "We kept it very, very quiet. It was one of the best-kept secrets going. Thievery would be knocking at the door."
 
But then, she said, "And I looked at some interviews with the Hendrick drivers yesterday -- Fox News -- and I couldn't see 'National Guard' anywhere, not so much as a logo. You'd have to get a magnifying glass to see it. I could not see any of that."
 
"I wish everybody the best," Muldowney said. And she urged fans to send cards and notes of encouragement to the sidelined three-time bike champion.
 
"Any fans out there of Angelle's, stick a card in the mail and say, 'Hi, Angelle, we miss you.' Just (address it) in care of NHRA and she'll get it. She's pretty hurt and disappointed. But keep in mind -- they called us. We didn't call them."
 
Sampey doesn't have her Top Fuel license yet, but Muldowney said the 41-time Pro Stock Motorcycle winner "doesn't need to need to go into any school and drive some outdated alcohol car that doesn't even apply. I'm the perfect one to tutor her. She has all the basics down, pulling up to the starting line and all that. All I have to do is share with her what little bit I know and I think she will be somebody to reckon with. Trust me."
 
The two never met until 2007 at Indianapolis, at a ladies-only breakfast in the Don Schumacher Racing hospitality area before Saturday qualifying for the U.S. Nationals.
 
"I always looked at her, quietly, and I think she is wonderful. She's truly wonderful."
 
When she met Muldowney, Sampey told her,  "You are a very intimidating person. We've all wanted to meet you just as bad as you've wanted to meet us. But for so many years, most of us may have been afraid to approach you. I was really scared to death to meet you because of all the stuff that you have done. You're so awesome, and we all look up to you.
 
"But when I saw that you are a regular person like I am, of course we became friends," Sampey said. "You've got to be the most awesome person I've ever met and one of the most beautiful women I've ever met, as well. Thank you for everything you have done to lead the way because it hasn't been an easy road for all of us, just like it wasn't for you. But you did make it easier for us.
 
"You are my inspiration my whole life," she said. "I wanted to be the next Shirley Muldowney -- of motorcycles. I hope that I have done you proud, because you are definitely my role model. God bless you and I love you."

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