ANGELLE: RACING ON HER TERMS
Her new attitude does not come out of anger that she’s out of ride on the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. She’s just over it.
She’s been there done that and has the proverbial t-shirt, albeit worn out, to prove it.
It does not, however mean she is finished with drag racing. If the right opportunity presented itself, Sampey would have had to “think about it”.
This weekend the three-time NHRA world champion will saddle up on a nitrous-injected, ADRL Pro Extreme Buell owned by George Bryce.
Together, Bryce and Sampey have history as a championship duo of rider and tuner.
Pro Stock Motorcycle is a past experience, Could Nitro Be Her Future?
Angelle Sampey’s new approach to drag racing is laid back.
Her new attitude does not come out of anger that she’s out of ride on the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. She’s just over it.
She’s been there done that and has the proverbial t-shirt, albeit worn out, to prove it.
It does not, however mean she is finished with drag racing. If the right opportunity presented itself, Sampey would have had to “think about it”.
This weekend the three-time NHRA world champion will saddle up on a nitrous-injected, ADRL Pro Extreme Buell owned by George Bryce.
Together, Bryce and Sampey have history as a championship duo of rider and tuner.
For now she has accepted a one-race opportunity because it was different. So different, she isn't exactly sure what she's gotten into.
“I don't know anything about it,” Sampey admitted, referring to the bike she will be driving. “George says I don't have to do anything different. He says it will drive just like a pro stock bike. I was like okay. If there is nothing different then I'm okay. I guess it will be a little faster.”
It’s a different challenge and that’s what appeals to Sampey. For thirteen years, the 41-time national event winner raced on the NHRA tour running Pro Stock Motorcycle.
Now, out of a ride, the deep burning desire to race a bike, just isn't there.
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“I don't have any interest in it, at least not at the moment,” Sampey said. “(Bryce) asked me, 'if I put together a deal in the future future would I consider it?' I said of course I would consider it. I'm not saying never again. Am I trying to get a deal put together? No, I am not trying. I'm not talking to anybody about it. I am actually focusing more on my home life than anything else ever before, because I realize I made a mistake. I realize it was a long time ago, but I just never had to do anything about it until now.”
At one time, Sampey was better known for her talents as a nurse than one who could nail shift points on a Suzuki effortlessly. Letting her nurse’s license expire, she admits, was a big mistake.
“I always used the excuse that I didn't want that to fall back on,” Sampey admitted. “I wanted to have to make my racing career work. And, I did. I had 13 wonderful years. But, I should have known that in the racing industry your job can end at any second for any number of reasons. I went to college for almost six years and I have a registered nurses degree and no license because I haven't practiced in over 10 years.”
Sampey has taken steps to rekindle her former career. She recently contacted the Louisiana State Board of Nursing who advised her to return to school for some “update” work.
“I am enrolled in an online school where I am going to do the theory part and then I have to do 80 hours of clinical in a hospital,” Sampey said, explaining the path she needs to take to have her license reinstated. “It's all a refresher course to get my skills back and get the knowledge back or the knowledge that I don't have. The medical field changes so much you have to do continuing education.”
That’s direction Sampey prefers to take at this point in life and nothing can convince her otherwise. Even if a Top Fuel team were to approach with a three-year “done-deal”, she’s not diverting from her current path.
“I still want to get my license back, because even if I get back on the race track I know eventually there is going to be a day that this happens again.”
Yes, Sampey may be done with motorcycles for the most part, but Top Fuel - that presents an intriguing challenge.
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“There are a couple of teams that know what I want to do,” Sampey revealed. “They know that I am waiting in the wings if 
something comes up. Whatever I have to do to jump in a car and start learning, I am ready to do it. My words were 'I want to move up. If I can't move up, I'll just move on.”
Blame the potential new nitro addiction on her former competitor, U.S. Army Pro Stock Motorcycle champion Antron Brown, the current Top Fuel point leader. He’s inspired her to consider driving one of the 300 mph rockets.
“Probably 100 percent,” Sampey said of her current interest in Top Fuel thanks to Brown. “Since the day he sat in that Top Fuel dragster (he's been) pushing and begging me. He loves it so much that every time we talk he tells me, 'this is where you need to be, Angelle. This is where you should have always been.' I've always thought about it, but my passion was in Pro Stock motorcycles. I love motorcycles. I started racing dirt bikes when I was six years old. I just never pursued it because I always thought I wouldn't be happy because bikes are where I wanted to be. Well, I finally reached that point that I don't really have a whole bunch of interest in the bikes anymore.
“And, the way Antron talks about the Top Fuel so much and he loves it and how great it is, well, I have always wanted to try it. It's so hard right not with the way the economy is, there are so many pro drivers in the Top Fuel ranks that don't have a ride. I don't want to set myself up for a heartbreak … thinking I might actually get this chance. When I want to do something, when I set out to do something, I pretty much won't take no for answer. I am really trying to take a laid back attitude, if I get this chance great, if I don't that's fine too.”
As long as the opportunity is in the top Pro ranks, Sampey is willing to give it a whirl.
“I would like the opportunity to move up to the Top Fuel ranks, whether that's Funny Car or Top Fuel, that doesn't matter, either one would be fine with me. If the opportunity comes, I will give it a try. If it doesn't, I'm going back to nursing. I am not going to hang my head and feel I've failed because I don't think I have. I think I did everything I set my heart to. I'll go forward with it if I can and if I can't I'll have a normal life.”
A normal life, what is that?
“This past six months, at first it was kind of weird,” Sampey said of life at home without the hectic schedule of racing. “It was kind of weird getting use to not booking flights, not booking rental cars, not packing suitcases. Now, it’s awesome.
“I have been doing a lot of stuff with my family. I have been able to attend different things that I normally would have missed because of races, whether it was weddings, or funeral or parties; being at everything when usually I was never at anything because I was always racing. People were always surprised to see me. It's been a big change and I am actually enjoying it.
“Whether or not it is what I want for the rest of my life, I'm not sure yet. I am also, I think, at the point in my life where if it doesn't happen then I am perfectly fine with staying home and going back to nursing.”
In other words, she’s content living life on her terms.
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