Angelle Sampey wins first NHRA race since 2007

ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. - Angelle Sampey got a call two years ago from her former crew chief, George Bryce. Bryce needed a driver after weeks of turnover.

Sampey had been out of motorcycle racing for six years, but Bryce's daughter suggested asking the 41-time winner, whom he had worked with in the past.

Sampey quit racing because she had no team and no sponsor. She took it as a sign to move on and start a family. She never planned on returning as a pro stock motorcycle driver.

When Bryce asked Sampey to restart her career in 2014, though, she had to consider it. At first, she was scared. She didn't know if she could still race. She was afraid to embarrass herself.

But more than anything else, Sampey wanted to prove to her daughter that she could do anything she wanted. She accepted the offer.

"I'm going to be my baby girl's role model," said Sampey, 45.

The New Orleans native added another win Sunday - her first since 2007 - at Raceway Park by knocking off Jerry Savoie in the final round with a top speed of 194.4 mph. Sampey's 42 career victories are the most by a female NHRA driver and the second-highest total by a pro stock motorcyclist.

It is Sampey's first win since the birth of her 5-year-old daughter, Ava, who was the centerpiece of her return to the track.

"It feels like my first ever," Sampey said. "I didn't feel like I had any wins before today. The career before is like nonexistent to me."

After Sampey retired in 2008, she said she "hated" her career. From the time she made her debut 12 years earlier, she put racing on a pedestal above her family. Looking back, that was a mistake.

Her daughter "sees all the trophies, but to her it means nothing because she wasn't there," Sampey said. "She doesn't even know how I got them."

In 2009, Sampey went to a race in Gainesville, Fla. On the first day of qualifying, though, she started crying. She couldn't handle being back. She couldn't watch the races. Sampey decided that she would never return.

As time passed, though, Sampey wanted Ava to know more about her as a racer. Two years ago, the NHRA invited Sampey back for a race in Houston to celebrate progress made by female drivers. She noticed Ava was enjoying the races and recognizing famous drivers like Courtney and Brittany Force.

"She had no idea that I did that [too]," Sampey said. "I was like, 'But mommy did that, mommy did that.' "

The first time Sampey raced after her retirement, late in the 2014 season, she was shaking with nerves. Tears rushed down her cheeks. As soon as the pre-stage bulb came on, though, her instincts took over.

"My little girl standing there watching me: Best feeling ever," Sampey said. "I was like, 'See, I told you mommy does that.' "

In just her third race, she tore a tendon in her ankle. Her doctor said she wouldn't be able to race by the start of the following season in February 2015. She was running on treadmills by January.

But all of last season was affected by an inability to steer her motorcycle. Sampey took the blame and assumed she couldn't return to her old self.

In the offseason, Bryce's crew built a vehicle specifically to fit Sampey. Now she's a winner again.

"When she puts her helmet on, puts her leather on, sits on the motorcycle, she turns into a cage fighter warrior in her mind," Bryce said.

Before her semifinal contest, Sampey sat inside her team's truck and began tearing up just thinking about her career. She was two rounds away from validating her comeback.

"I didn't want to come back and show her I couldn't do it," Sampey said.

She no longer has to worry about that.