When George Bryce lost his rider at the last moment, it seemed natural that he would reach out to his comfort zone to find a
replacement.

Bryce, the motorcycle drag racing icon and former world championship team owner, finds comfort in his association with Angelle Sampey.

The former world championship combo will be reunited next weekend at the ADRL Memphis Drags in Memphis, Tenn., as Bryce will field a nitrous-injected Pro Extreme Buell with Sampey rocketing down the eighth-mile.

Matt Smith was originally scheduled to ride but previous commitments in Qatar and with his currently employer Don Schumacher Racing forced him to withdraw. He notified Bryce last Thursday of his change in plans.

“I sat around for a while and I just figured I would call Angelle,” Bryce said. Former NHRA Champions Racing ADRL Next Weekend …

When George Bryce lost his rider at the last moment, it seemed natural that he would reach out to his comfort zone to find a replacement.

Bryce, the motorcycle drag racing icon and former world championship team owner, finds comfort in his association with Angelle Sampey.

The former world championship combo will be reunited next weekend at the ADRL Memphis Drags in Memphis, Tenn., as Bryce will field a nitrous-injected Pro Extreme Buell with Sampey rocketing down the eighth-mile.

Matt Smith was originally scheduled to ride but previous commitments in Qatar and with his currently employer Don Schumacher Racing forced him to withdraw. He notified Bryce last Thursday of his change in plans.

“I sat around for a while and I just figured I would call Angelle,” Bryce said.

As quickly as he dialed her number, he realized that Sampey had expressed to him that she was through with NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle racing. He believed that a different venue might have a remote chance of coaxing his former rider back into competition.

“I knew she was pretty much over the whole NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle deal … but I figured since it was ADRL … something different that I would give it a shot,” Bryce admitted. “I figured she was just say, ‘Thanks, but no thanks.'

“She answered and accepted and I was surprised.”

Together Bryce and Sampey have won three world championships, although those titles were captured while with a Suzuki program. Sampey converted her riding style to a Buell last season.

Next weekend, she’ll get the opportunity to convert her riding style from EFI to nitrous and a carburetor as well as from quarter-mile down to eighth-mile.

“That will be a little different for me,” Sampey admitted, referring to riding a nitrous bike in the eighth-mile. “But the biggest thing is that I haven’t ridden a motorcycle since last November. I’m always a little nervous before that first pass after taking some time off, but it all comes back pretty fast, so I’m sure I’ll be okay. I’m just looking forward to feeling that thrill of acceleration again.”

Sampey is excited about her first ADRL experience.

“I’ve heard a lot of good things about the ADRL, but I’ve never been to one of their events before and I’ve never raced on an eighth mile. So there will be a lot of firsts for me at this event, but it seems like it will be a lot of fun, too,” Sampey continued. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to relax and just have fun at the race track, so I’m really looking forward to it.”

As for Smith, Bryce says the former champion will race more ADRL events.

“We’ll do some more races,” Bryce said. “That’s no problem at all.”

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