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XXX Racing to Fuel Sampey’s Countdown Charge
When Bolingbroke, Georgia based XXX Racing Fuel went looking
for an NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle to sponsor, they didn’t have to look further
than nearby Americus and six-time NHRA champion tuner George Bryce. Bryce crew
chiefs Angelle Sampey’s S&S powered V-Twin, and XXX will join primary marketing
partner Rush Racing and fellow associate Doc’s Harley-Davidson for the remainder
of the 2008 season.
“XXX CEO Thomas ‘Tog’ Goss has been one of my friends for 25 years,” said Bryce.
“I was one of the first ones to teach him how to drag race. He’s been the
ultimate under-the-radar drag racer for those 25 years and now he’s all grown
up. But most importantly, he’s come up with a new invention. He’s invented a
racing gasoline that is three times better, and that’s why we affectionately
refer to it as XXX.
“XXX Racing Fuel is unleaded and makes more horsepower than any unleaded or
leaded fuel and it burns clean. The exhaust pipe emits zero or very limited
hydrocarbons and it needs 50% less oil than any other racing gasoline. XXX is a
first step toward taking motorsports worldwide into the green zone.”
“I met George and Jackie Bryce in 1982,” said Goss. “I was 12 and my dad bought
me a GS1100 Suzuki. I was about 85 pounds on that big bike, and George came over
and gave us advice on wheelie bar height and such. As we got deeper into racing,
we found more inconsistency with oxygenated fuels, and the inconsistency comes
from the oxygenating process. We also found issues with fuel systems and
injectors gumming up and getting residue with leaded oxygenated fuels. So what
we’ve done is develop an oxygenated, unleaded fuel that creates no residue and
does not have to be drained out after you race with it. We have a very high
oxygen content and provide complete combustion that reduces emissions.”
“You can really tune to this fuel,” said Del Flores of Del’s Performance Cycles
in Brownsburg, Indiana. Flores has been the point man on dyno testing XXX fuel.
“As we dynotuned that very first day with XXX, we found it to be extremely
consistent. You can tune with it and it responds the way you expect it to with
small changes because of its consistency. And it’s amazing how clean it burns.
Normally, when you’ve dynoed all day, the oxygen sensor needs replacing. But my
O2 sensor was nice and clean.
“The AMA Dragbike Real Street bike I race had a brand new motor in it for the
start of the year, and I’ve run nothing but XXX in this thing. When I took the
motor apart mid season, I was shocked how clean the tops of the pistons and the
exhaust port and all the exhaust valves were. This after over 200 dyno pulls and
150-200 passes. This stuff just doesn’t build up and leave residue. When you’re
using stuff like that, your racing is consistent.
“We’re definitely going in the right direction and have a good product,” said
Goss. “We have the problem where it’s almost too good to be true. But the main
thing to us is to supply the most horsepower to the racers we can. We want
consistency, and for the sanctioning body we want to give them a fuel that’s
more environmentally friendly. We knew that at some point in the future, race
fuels would have to be unleaded. We also knew that if we used natural,
biodegradable materials, we would develop an oxygenated fuel that was more
stable and didn’t have materials evaporating. Racers have developed some of the
best products in the industrial world, and this product was developed by me, my
dad and two uncles.
“It’s a lot of exciting things going on. Rather than come out as a six inch
sticker sponsor on a wheelie bar, I thought it would be more beneficial to have
a bigger presence at the biggest race of the year, and also it will be cool to
be a new sponsor in the field for the Ringers Gloves battle.”
“We’re real excited to have Tog and XXX come on board,” said team owner Karl
Klement. “I know that their fuel works because I’ve been watching them come
along and they really have a good product. I’m really happy to represent them.”
“The XXX Race Fuels people are all such good, down to earth kind of people, and
I’m really happy to help promote their company,” said Sampey. “I’ll be doing
everything I can to take their sticker into the Indy winners circle along with
all of our other great partners.”
“There will be lots of news to follow as this product continues to develop,”
promised Bryce. “The whole concept is accelerating at a rapid rate. I wish it
was legal now for our class, but we’re happy to help introduce it to the
motorsports world at the 54th U.S. Nationals. We’re very, very proud to help
introduce this brand new company to our favorite form of motorsports, NHRA
POWERade Pro Stock Motorcycle racing, and get this product into the hands of the
racers.”
Angelle and the Rush Racing team race this weekend August 27 to
September 1 at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at O’Reilly Raceway Park near
Indianapolis, Indiana.
8/27/08
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Finals Again for
Sampey
by: Tim Hailey, Eatmyink.com
For the second straight race, three time NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle champ Angelle
Sampey rode her Rush Racing S&S powered V-Twin all the way to the final round.
She also jumped all the way to fourth in the POWERade standings and moved up one
notch on the Full Throttle Pit Crew Championship ladder as well. With one race
to go before the Countdown to the Championship, Sampey and her team have hit
their stride and are peaking at precisely the right time. “The team did
fantastic,” said Angelle. “Everybody worked together so well, everybody did
their jobs, everything just worked. I really think that us learning each other
and me learning the bike and what it takes to be a championship contending team
has come together for us.”
Using one motor for the weekend and concentrating on a raceday set-up, Sampey
qualified solidly in the middle of the front half of the Reading field.
qualifying round 1
7th Angelle Sampey right lane 7.019 at 189.47 mph
1.082 60 foot time
qualifying round 2
4th Angelle Sampey left lane 6.964 at 190.40 mph
1.105 60 foot time
qualifying round 3
5th Angelle Sampey right lane 6.977 at 190.16 mph
qualifying round 4
6th Angelle Sampey left lane 6.971 at 190.65 mph
“We qualified pretty well,” continued Angelle. “Like everybody, we wish we’d
qualified higher, but it actually worked out in our favor where we qualified. We
had a good side of the ladder, with some of the really tough competitors going
out early. Not that anybody’s not a tough competitor anymore, because every
single person in the other lane feels like a final round these days. But there
were bikes that were faster than some of the ones I had to race and they went
out early. So that was a little bit less stressful.”
“We had a plan on Sunday to win as many rounds as we could and keep our nose to
the grindstone,” said George Bryce, the six time national champion tuner on
Sampey's Buell.
And the grindstone is where the team spent a good deal of time on raceday. “We
kept having things go wrong, but we kept fighting and fighting and kept going
rounds,” said team owner Karl Klement. “Everybody did a great job.”
Indeed. Sampey and the team maintained their poise and consistency early in the
day when redlights plagued the class. “There were a lot of redlights today,”
said Bryce. “Every time I turned around, Angelle was looking down and not
watching. I’m proud of her for that. She made everybody nervous all day when
they raced her.”
eliminations round 1
(W) Angelle Sampey .057 6.955 at 189.55 mph
Wes Wells -.022 (R) 7.152 at 186.12 mph
eliminations round 2
(W) Angelle Sampey .040 7.013 at 189.04 mph
Chris Rivas -.031 (R) 7.042 at 185.51 mph
eliminations round 3
(W) Angelle Sampey .107 7.024 at 187.21 mph
Karen Stoffer .069 7.093 at 186.15 mph
Sampey’s semifinal win over Karen Stoffer set up a repeat final round of last
week’s race in Brainerd between Angelle and defending national champion Matt
Smith, both on S&S powered V-Twins. In Brainerd, though, an inexpensive
electrical part failed on Sampey’s Buell and she didn’t get a chance to strut
her stuff. “We rolled up to the starting line against Matt for the déjà vu
final,” said Bryce. “And I said real loud so everybody could hear me ‘If it
starts up we’ll be better than last week.’ It fired and everybody smiled.” For a
while, anyway, but the smiles of the team in the black and lime Rush Racing
shirts would have been bigger had the similarly colored Buell taken the stripe.
eliminations final round
(W) Matt Smith .045 6.957 at 188.81 mph
Angelle Sampey .036 7.061 at 186.28 mph
“If it hadn’t started, I believe Lou and Jeremy Pringle and Terry Daniels of
Rush Racing would have called me into their office first thing Monday morning!”
said Klement.
Though happy the bike ran, Bryce wasn’t sure why it wasn’t up to snuff to take
out Smith. “We went 6.95 first round, then we tuned and it slowed down,” said
George. “We said ‘OK that didn’t work,’ and went back the other way and it
slowed down again. Usually when you go back to where you were it picks back up.
So there might be something wrong with that motor. We’re gonna take it all apart
and make sure it’s ready for Indy. We’re gonna run two engines there instead of
one like we did at Brainerd and Reading. Ken Johnson is taking the bike and
engines back to the shop. We’re gonna work on them and come out as best we can
for the U.S. Nationals.”
“I think the engine was hurt, maybe the crankshaft,” said Angelle. “We were
losing power every round. And Matt Smith is just one heck of a competitor. It’s
gonna take a lot to take him down, but I do believe we have it.”
“Angelle did a great job,” boasted Bryce. “She left on Matt, rode straight and
shifted on time, which is all we can ask. I’m very proud to be able to go to two
finals in a row. Going to these finals is right what we were trying to do. I’d
like to win every race, but peaking when it counts is a good thing. It’s typical
of our race team to peak towards the end of the year.”
“I wasn’t disappointed in any way,” said Angelle. “I think everybody gave their
all and there wasn’t anything else we could have done, it’s just the way the
cards fell. I’m very proud of my guys.
“And I want to say a big ‘Thank you’ to our sponsors and family at Rush Racing.
Thy have been very supportive and very patient with us. I hope they can see
we’re turning things around. And all the other people who support us, like Doc’s
Harley-Davidson, Tucker Rocky, Royal Purple and everybody. We have great people
behind us, and that’s what it takes.
“And Karl and Kim Klement have been fantastic. Karl tells me ‘Good job’ after
every run. He did a great thing for me in Brainerd when he said ‘No matter what
happens in the final, Angelle, you did a great job this weekend.’ That takes all
the pressure off, and I know that he felt the same way here in Reading. When you
go into the final, you want to win more than anything, but you know that you’ve
done a good job. George reminded me that this was my tenth final round at
Reading out of twelve times racing here, so I have to say that it’s my all time
favorite place to race because we are so successful here.
“We’re fourth in the world in points and I think we can move into third after
Indy,” said Klement. “And if we keep going the way we’re going, I think we’ll be
there. The team’s starting to really come together. I want to qualify number one
at Indy, win the Ringer’s Gloves Battle and win the U.S. Nationals.” And nothing
else would be acceptable for this team with high hopes.
“I really thought we were gonna get our first win of the year, but we didn’t,
and I am totally motivated and so ready to go to Indy because I think our team
is on a roll and it’s all gonna fall into place just at the right time,”
finished Sampey. “We made a huge move up to fourth in points and things are
falling right where we want them to fall when the Countdown starts, and we are
gonna be contenders. I’m excited about it. Matt Smith is not gonna be the only
thorn in everybody’s side!”
Angelle and the Rush Racing team race next August 27 to September 1 at
the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at O’Reilly Raceway Park near Indianapolis,
Indiana.
Angelle and the team would like to thank
Rush Racing Products
http://www.epiflex.com
Doc's Harley-Davidson
http://www.docsharleydavidson.com
Tucker Rocky Distributing
http://www.tuckerrocky.com
Biker's Choice
http://www.bikerschoice.com
G2 Motorsports
http://www.g2motorsports.net
Royal Purple
http://www.royalpurple.com
DynoJet Research
http://www.dynojet.com
PJ1
http://www.pj1.com
Motion Pro
http://www.motionpro.com
Impact Racing
http://www.impactraceproducts.com
EK Chain
http://www.ekchain.com
Bates Leathers
http://www.batesleathers.com
and Darcy Racing
http://www.darcyracing.com
for their support.
NHRA POWERade season point standings
4th Angelle Sampey 668
Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle point standings
5th Angelle Sampey 2,105
Full Throttle Pit Crew Championship point standings
6th Angelle Sampey/George Bryce 281
8/18/08
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sampey to the Finals at Brainerd
by: Tim Hailey, www.eatmyink.com
Sampey to the Finals at Brainerd
For the first time in 2008, three time NHRA Pro Stock
Motorcycle champ Angelle Sampey and her Rush Racing S&S powered V-Twin went all
the way to the final round. Sampey parlayed her third place qualifying effort
into a near win at Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minnesota, but a
faulty cam sensor let her and the team down as the bike failed to start for the
final round. “We were all heart broken that we didn’t get a chance to run, but
we feel like it’s really turned around and we had a chance to win,” said Angelle.
After a botched round 1 qualifying attempt, Sampey and the Rush Racing team
started a relentless march through the field. “I just totally missed the shifter
button in the first round of qualifying,” reported Angelle. “The bike took off
to the left, which it’s never done. Usually I’m prepared for the bike to go
right. I was just holding on, and you can’t hold on and shift the motorcycle.
You have to go with the motorcycle and really ride the thing.”
qualifying round 1
16th Angelle Sampey right lane 8.500 at 111.00 mph
“After that, I was just determined to ride that motorcycle like I knew I could,
and we went better and better.”
qualifying round 2
6th Angelle Sampey left lane 7.040 at 187.29 mph
1.090 60 foot time
qualifying round 3
6th Angelle Sampey right lane 7.034 at 185.10 mph
1.073 60 foot time
qualifying round 4
3rd Angelle Sampey left lane 6.984 at 189.42 mph
1.076 60 foot time
True enough. Sampey’s times improved every round, as did the
60 foot times that have proven elusive for her and the bike so far this year.
“We did really well,” said George Bryce, the six time national champion tuner on
Sampey's Buell. “We had the best qualifying position we’ve had this year. We
went really fast and improved every round. Then we improved again first round on
Sunday and went a 6.95, set the track record and got low ET of the meet.”
eliminations round 1
(W) Angelle Sampey .081 6.951 at 188.81 mph
Junior Pippin .109 7.102 at 185.05 mph
Sampey's Rush Racing Buell leapt to a 1.064 60 foot time on the pass. “That was
a beautiful pass and the bike went really straight,” said Angelle.
“Then we had to run the Harley and Andrew Hines in the second round,” said
Bryce. “He redlighted and Angelle had a good light, an .04. She got excited when
she saw his redlight, looked over and took a peek, missed a shift and hit the
rev limiter and slowed us down to a 7.05. But it would’ve gone a 6.90something
again.”
eliminations round 2
(W) Angelle Sampey .042 7.058 at 185.28 mph
Andrew Hines -.010 (R) 7.040 at 186.46 mph
“In the next round, Chip Ellis redlighted and Angelle was able to go a 7 flat,”
continued Bryce.
eliminations round 3
(W) Angelle Sampey -.006 7.005 at 186.82 mph
Chip Ellis -.046 (R) 6.993 at 189.68 mph
So the table was set for Sampey’s first final on the Rush Racing rocket. But in
a cruel twist of fate, an inexpensive electronic part failed in the water box
and the bike refused to start.
eliminations final round
(W) Matt Smith .057 6.973 at 188.60 mph
Angelle Sampey broke
“It was a lowly cam sensor,” groaned Bryce. “All it does is tell the ECU (Engine
Control Unit) that the engine’s turning over. It costs $31.”
“It cost us the race!” said team owner Karl Klement. “We came back to the
trailer and changed it and it started right up.”
“Fired up and sounded perfect,” agreed Bryce.
“I was upset, but it was really a nice weekend,” said Angelle. “The weather was
beautiful, we had fun, and the crew guys Michael and Curtis did great.”
“Everybody worked together real well,” agreed Klement. “We had a great weekend
and we finally found the tune-up in the bike.”
“Thanks to Karl and Kim Klement and the Rush Racing Products folks for giving us
a chance to do this,” said Bryce. “And I want to give Angelle a pat on the back
for her driving this weekend, and my boys did everything right. The motorcycle
was great. The boys back at Star Racing and G2 did a good job putting the motors
together.”
“But there’s still more in it,” said Angelle. “I can hold first gear longer than
I have been, but I’ve hit the rev limiter a few times and I’m scared of that. I
can’t be scared of it.”
“Angelle was coiled and cocked and ready to rock and we didn’t get a chance to
show off what we could do in the finals,” said Bryce. “But we picked up 60
points on the guys who went out first round, like Eddie Krawiec, Chris Rivas,
and a couple of other guys we closed the gap on. It was a good move for us. The
bike was fast and we’re ready for the next race at Reading.”
“We had some really good runs all weekend, but I still haven’t won Brainerd
yet,” said Angelle. “It’s the only track I haven’t won on yet. But Reading is a
great track for me. I think there have been only two or three times I’ve raced
at Reading that I haven’t been in the final round. So since we did this well at
Brainerd, I feel I have a mental advantage going to Reading. That is my race!”
Angelle and the Rush Racing team race next August 14-17 at the Toyo
Tires NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway in Mohnton, Pennsylvania.
Angelle and the team would like to thank
Rush Racing Products,
Doc's
Harley-Davidson, Tucker
Rocky Distributing,
Biker's Choice, George Smith and George Bryce of
G2 Motorsports,
DynoJet Research,
PJ1,
Motion Pro,
Royal Purple,
Impact Racing,
EK Chain,
Bates Leathers,
Darcy Racing, and
Impact Racing
for their support.
NHRA POWERade season point standings
7th Angelle Sampey 574
Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle point standings
5th Angelle Sampey 1,970
Full Throttle Pit Crew Championship point standings
7th Angelle Sampey/George Bryce 258
8/12/08
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rush Racing Wins Full
Throttle Award
By: Tim Hailey,
http://www.eatmyink.com
Three time NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle champ Angelle Sampey and her Rush Racing
team put on a sterling qualifying performance at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma,
California. Sampey's Rush Racing S&S powered V-Twin started the weekend off
quick and stayed remarkably consistent. “The team did a great job in
qualifying,” said Angelle. “The bike was very fast and it was very consistent. I
did my part in qualifying and the guys did their part and it was all good. We
won the Full Throttle award and we were all really excited about that. It was so
cool for Curtis Jackson and Michael Ray to be able to come up on stage and be
presented with the award. I was real proud of them. I think we showed that the
Rush Racing team has what it takes to get the job done.”
“Michael and Curtis did a fantastic job getting us ready and fast,” agreed
George Bryce, the six time national champion tuner on Sampey's bike. The Full
Throttle award recognizes the team that is able put together the best four lap
average through the race weekend’s changing conditions.
qualifying round 1
2nd Angelle Sampey right lane 7.006 at 188.44 mph
qualifying round 2
4th Angelle Sampey left lane 7.034 at 183.15 mph
qualifying round 3
5th Angelle Sampey right lane 7.000 at 188.15 mph
qualifying round 4
5th Angelle Sampey left lane 7.048 at 185.13 mph
“We ran very well,” continued Bryce. “Our best all year. We were second after
the first run with a 7.00, then we were a little early with the 2 to 3 shift and
ran a 7.03. We changed engines and ran 7.000—the first run with the new engine.
Then it got hot and the wind turned around to an 18 mile per hour headwind and
we ran 7.04—the quickest of the final round by a lot.”
Low 7.0 consistency was out the window in a good way in Sunday’s first round of
eliminations. Angelle’s 6.90 was, at the time, low ET of the meet, a new track
record, and the team’s best ET ever.
eliminations round 1
(W) Angelle Sampey .136 6.900 at 191.57 mph
Steve Johnson -.036 (R) 6.970 at 192.25 mph
“But then I had a glitch in the second round with a redlight,” said Angelle.
“I’m not sure what happened and I have no excuse for it. I just turned the
throttle and went almost before the tree even came on. It’s very unusual for me
to do something like that, but I did it and I don’t have any excuse. I wasn’t
excited, I wasn’t nervous. I felt very confident and really thought we were
gonna win the race.”
eliminations round 2
(W) Chip Ellis .002 6.922 at 193.07 mph
Angelle Sampey -.075 (R) 7.008 at 189.55 mph
“We got back to the trailer and looked at the computer,” continued Angelle. “The
run looked good as far as my driving, with the shifting and everything. The ET
wasn’t as great as we expected, so maybe there was something hurt in the engine.
I’m not real sure. So we wouldn’t have won if my light had been green, but it
doesn’t matter. You’ve gotta have a green light to win, so I threw it away
before we even had a chance to win it.”
“We have the Rush Racing V-Twin going fast and straight now,” said Bryce. “We
will run fast from now on and it is time to win rounds. We stayed seventh in
points with two more races to go before the Countdown to the Championship
starts. Thank you Karl and Kim Klement and Rush Racing for giving us the chance
to pull this off.”
“The weekend went really well, the bike was real fast, the team won the Full
Throttle award, Mike and Curtis accepted the award, we were marching through the
field, and then we redlit and it was over,” summarized bike owner Karl Klement,
who celebrated his birthday in Sonoma. “The whole team wants to win so bad and
they are capable of doing it. They are just now coming together and great things
are fixing to happen.”
It can’t happen soon enough for Sampey, who was beating herself up pretty good
late Monday night after a long day of traveling back to Louisiana. “It was
pretty disappointing,” said Angelle. “I’m very upset and frustrated with myself.
I’m gonna go home and get my head straight and work on my reaction times again.
I think I’ve been doing a really good job with them all year long up until this
weekend. I don’t know what went wrong, but I’m gonna figure it out and I’m gonna
fix it because my team and team owners and sponsors and all the people that
support us have given me everything I need. There’s no excuse for me not to give
them everything it takes to win a race. So I’m gonna work hard and I’m gonna fix
it.”
Angelle and the Rush Racing team race next August 7-10 at the Lucas Oil
NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minnesota.
Angelle and the team would like to thank Rush Racing Products
http://www.epiflex.com, Doc's Harley-Davidson
http://www.docsharleydavidson.com, CycleSpot.com
http://www.cyclespot.com, Tucker Rocky Distributing
http://www.tuckerrocky.com, Biker's Choice
http://www.bikerschoice.com, George Smith and George Bryce of G2 Motorsports
http://www.g2motorsports.net, Royal Purple
http://www.royalpurple.com, DynoJet Research
http://www.dynojet.com, PJ1
http://www.pj1.com, Motion Pro
http://www.motionpro.com, Impact Racing
http://www.impactraceproducts.com, EK Chain
http://www.ekchain.com, Bates Leathers
http://www.batesleathers.com, and Darcy Racing
http://www.darcyracing.com for their support.
NHRA POWERade season point standings
7th Angelle Sampey 478
Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle point standings
5th Angelle Sampey 1,815
Full Throttle Pit Crew Championship point standings
7th Angelle Sampey/George Bryce 214
8/1/08
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sampey Advances to Semis in Chicago
The windy city lived up to its name this past
weekend at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals, and few were more susceptible to the
conditions than Angelle Sampey and her Rush Racing S&S powered Buell. "We have
the lightest driver and the heaviest bike," said George Bryce, the six-time
POWERade champion tuner/crew chief on Sampey's Pro Stock Motorcycle. "The wind
got us and we never made a good run."
Still, the Rush Racing team made it to the semifinals on a trying weekend
weather-wise. "It was treacherous," said team owner Karl Klement. "It rained
every day, and Saturday night there was a tornado that came all the way around
the track."
Better around than through, most would agree, though the crosswinds at Route 66
Raceway had a profound effect on the bikes. "Craig hit the wall twice," Bryce
said about the diminutive Craig Treble who, despite his brushes with the
concrete, went on to runner-up to Sampey's G2 Motorsports teammate Chris Rivas.
It was clearly Rivas's weekend, as the first time winner also qualified number
one. Sampey ended up fifth in the qualifying order, a spot that seemed to please
Bryce. "That tied the best we've qualified this year," said George, noticing
that the team seemed to qualify well at the home race of their marketing
partners. Chicago is the home race of Merrillville, Indiana based Rush Racing.
The other number five spot was nailed at the home track for associate sponsor
Doc's Harley-Davidson near St. Louis.
qualifying round 1
10th Angelle Sampey right lane 7.277 at 177.04 mph
No doubt influenced by the strong crosswind, Angelle drifted to the right and
very close to the wall on her Q1 pass. "The weather was definitely an issue,"
said Angelle. "I had to battle a 22 mph crosswind on all four runs in
qualifying."
qualifying round 2
5th Angelle Sampey left lane 7.093 at 183.29 mph
qualifying round 3
5th Angelle Sampey right lane 7.088 at 183.00 mph
qualifying round 4
5th Angelle Sampey left lane 7.122 at 182.26 mph
"On Sunday's eliminations, the wind died down some but was still a factor," said
Angelle. "We did the best we could to compensate for it with the set up of my
Rush Racing V-Twin, but I was still having to fight the motorcycle most of the
way down the track. It can get pretty exciting to hang off of that monster while
doing 180+ miles per hour!"
eliminations round 1
(W) Angelle Sampey .048 7.140 at 183.62 mph
Joe DeSantis .053 23.334 no speed
eliminations round 2
(W) Angelle Sampey .000 7.168 at 181.42 mph
Shawn Gann no-show
Shawn Gann drove into the sand trap in round one and didn't get the bike
repaired in time to race Angelle in round two. Her bye run left her paired with
Rivas for the semis. "We had good co-opitition with the G2 team on how to run
good until we had to run each other," Bryce said, borrowing a word from former
NASCAR Cup champ and current Fox TV commentator Darrell Waltrip. "Chris was
pretty flawless all weekend, and we're pretty proud of that." That flawlessness
carried Rivas past Sampey and on to the win against Treble.
eliminations round 3
(W) Chris Rivas .047 7.054 at 186.74 mph
Angelle Sampey .034 7.290 at 185.05 mph
"I had a pretty good reaction time and I left on him, but shook the tire pretty
hard in first gear and Chris drove away from me," said Angelle, who's 60 foot
time fell off accordingly on the pass. "Our incremental times showed that we had
the best back half of the weekend on the run, so that is proof that we have the
power that we need to win."
"The bike never went straight and it wasn't particularly drivable for the
conditions," added Bryce.
"It was great having my sponsors from Rush Racing Products with us," said
Sampey. "They are such an easy going and fun group of people, and I was really
hoping to get a win for them this weekend."
"It was fun hanging with the Rush Racing group and getting to know more of those
guys," agreed Bryce.
"Lou and Jeremy Pringle and Terry, Janet and Adam Daniel from Rush Racing set up
hospitality at the race and all their employees were there," added Klement. "It
was great seeing them and I'm glad they were all able to come out to their home
race."
Angelle dropped slightly to sixth in points, while ironically moving closer to
some of her rivals. "All in all it was a good weekend," said Bryce. "It doesn't
seem like we dropped back since the points have tightened up."
"Everybody a great job this weekend," agreed Klement. "The bike was running
good, we just didn't win."
"The team did great again and we continued to get along perfectly," finished
Angelle. "I can't stress enough how important that is to being successful. I am
so blessed with the greatest team owners in Karl and Kim Klement, and the
greatest group of guys working on my bike, along with one of my closest and best
friends as my crew chief. Winning is the only thing we're missing and I know
that it's only a matter of time for that to happen."
Angelle and the Rush Racing team race next June 20-22 at the Lucas Oil NHRA
SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey
NHRA POWERade season point standings
6th Angelle Sampey 305
Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle point standings
5th Angelle Sampey 1,305
Full Throttle Pit Crew Championship point standings
6th Angelle Sampey/George Bryce 109
Angelle and the team would like to thank
Rush Racing Products,
Doc's
Harley-Davidson,
CycleSpot.com, Tucker
Rocky Distributing,
Biker's Choice, George Smith and George Bryce of
G2 Motorsports,
DynoJet Research,
PJ1,
Motion Pro,
Royal Purple,
Impact Racing,
EK Chain,
Bates Leathers,
Darcy Racing, and
Impact Racing
for their support.
This team report was prepared by Tim Hailey,
www.eatmyink.com
6/11/08
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sensor Lets Sampey Down
On a week bracketed by Danica Patrick's first IndyCar win in
Japan and Ashley Force's
first Funny Car win in
Atlanta, Angelle Sampey—the
winningest woman in professional motorsports—was on her game and on a winning
horse. But an up and down weekend for Angelle and the Rush Racing team ended
when a $10 part failed on the S&S powered Buell in the Atlanta Dragway water
box.
Simply making the field seemed like a difficult task, though, in qualifying. The
Buell hit the rev limiter twice in the first session as Sampey struggled to keep
the bike going straight. "I didn't get it in second or third gear," reported
Angelle. "I hung off the bike really hard, and we figured I was pushing the
shifter button from the side rather than dead-on."
qualifying round 1
18th Angelle Sampey left lane 7.434 at 183.74 mph
After a good first half, an unusual clutch problem took about 20 mph off the
Buell's back half in round 2. "The clutch came apart," said Angelle. "When I
pulled in the clutch there was nothing there, it had already engaged itself."
qualifying round 2
15th Angelle Sampey right lane 7.165 at 165.78 mph
So for the first time, Angelle went into Saturday's qualifying on the wrong side
of the NHRA's new 12-spot qualifying rule. But the bike was back. "The bike was
running good in qualifying," said Angelle. "The power was there, we just needed
to get the bike down the track straight." A continuing problem, even as her ETs
dropped and put her safely, if not spectacularly, in the field.
qualifying round 3
11th Angelle Sampey left lane 7.080 at 183.94 mph
qualifying round 4
11th Angelle Sampey right lane 7.068 at 185.87 mph
Angelle was leaning hard to the left in the final session, leaning the bike on
the left edge of the rear tire as it pulled relentlessly to the wall in the
right lane. "There was a crown in the right lane, and if you got on the wrong
side of that it really pulled you," said Angelle. "That would have been an
outstanding run if it had been a straight pass."
The team also decided to change the rear tire. "We kept making the motorcycle
faster and faster every run, but we were having trouble making the bike go
straight," said six-time champion tuner George Bryce. "It could have been the
tire, but we usually don't have trouble with those. But we put one on with five
runs on it Sunday morning and away she went."
eliminations round 1
(W) Angelle Sampey .015 6.992 at 189.87 mph
Eddie Krawiec .033 6.989 at 189.04 mph
Indeed. A huge jump in performance from the bike, and Angelle doing her job at
the line, resulted in a .015 of a second (about 4 feet) holeshot win over Eddie
Krawiec in round 1 of eliminations. "That was a great run," said Angelle.
Next up was class champion Matt Smith, who had put Sampey out of the first two
races of the year. Matt got out of the groove and Angelle finally got past him
for a round win. "We didn't do as good of a run second round," said Angelle. "I
made some mistakes and the tuning was a little off, but we won."
eliminations round 2
(W) Angelle Sampey .082 7.026 at 187.70 mph
Matt Smith .081 7.052 at 185.31 mph
Then came Chip Ellis in the semis. Angelle was paired up with Chip at the season
finale in
Pomona last year when her bike broke
and couldn't make the run. What were the chances of a déjà vu experience?
Apparently pretty good. "The bike was idling perfectly, but when she went to
open the throttle up for her burnout, nothing happened," said Bryce. "She did it
again and nothing. She motioned for me to come back and I grabbed the throttle
and twisted it and nothing."
"You gotta be kidding me?" said Angelle. "I thought by this time we'd gotten all
the bugs out."
"The throttle position sensor failed," said Bryce. "It's a $10 commercially
available part at your local
NAPA store. It tells the fuel
injection when to open the throttle."
eliminations round 3
(W) Chip Ellis .107 6.943 at 192.60 mph
Angelle Sampey broke
"You never know what would have happened if we'd gotten the bike staged," said
Sampey. "Chip ran a really good lap, but it's different when somebody's in the
other lane. We had the tune-up in it, I was driving it straight, and I'm
confident we'd have run really well."
"It looked like a comedy of errors or a series of unfortunate events, but it's
been a chain of little things, nothing really expensive," said Bryce, who tested
the bike twice between
Houston and
Atlanta. Admittedly, the first races
of the season didn't match expectations for the team. "We found several things
in the oil supply and fuel system, a lot of little things that just kept hiding
from us. But we're bound to be at or near the end, because we've already been
through everything."
"I know people are wondering 'What the heck's going on?'" said Angelle. "But
it's not an issue of 'We don't know what we're doing.' You've just got to laugh
it off and know it's gonna turn around. I believe in karma bigtime and I know
it's gonna turn around for us. We're being good sports and it's gonna turn
around. That's what we deserve. It's just been crazy bad luck. My experience has
shown that over the course of the year, your luck comes and goes. My hope is
that we've gotten all the bad luck out of the way early in the year. I know what
George and I are capable of and I know we're really gonna be formidable the rest
of the year."
"We finally showed some glitter of the bling," said Bryce. "But regardless of
whether we've done well on the track, Angelle and I have totally enjoyed working
together again. We had no idea we'd have this much fun, and I'd like to thank
Karl and Kim Klement and the Rush guys for giving us this chance. We can see
we've turned the corner and are looking forward to
St. Louis."
"We really are having a good time," agreed Angelle. "It's really amazing. If
we're having this much fun only going one or two rounds, I can just imagine how
much fun it's gonna be winning races. I'm very proud of my team. We're winning
together and losing together. The first round I won on a holeshot and the second
round I won because I had the bike. We're getting better and that's a good
thing. Every run this weekend we did better and better."
"Everybody did a great job this weekend," said team owner Karl Klement, who
announced the hiring of new crew member Michael Ray. "We're getting the bugs
worked out of this thing. If it hadn't broke, I believe we would have won this
race."
"This team has so much potential," finished Angelle, who looked ahead to next
week's race in
St. Louis. "That's the home of our
sponsor Doc's Harley-Davidson, and a win there would be awesome!"
4/28/08
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sampey Salvages Sixth in Points
The first two races on the reunion tour of three-time NHRA POWERade champion Pro
Stock Motorcycle driver Angelle Sampey and six-time champion tuner George Bryce
have not gone as well as the team had hoped. But they feel pretty lucky that,
despite lackluster performance, they have a strong position in the point
standings. From there they can solve their mechanical issues and move forward to
meet the high expectations surrounding them.
The first pass of the weekend proved to be the high water mark for the Rush
Racing S&S powered Buell, as Sampey ran within .001 of her opening round pass at
the Gators. And just like in
Gainesville, the bike posted another
slow 1.12 60 foot time.
qualifying round 1
4th Angelle Sampey right lane 7.042 at 189.92 mph
That was the number that Sampey would qualify on, as the Buell's performance
progressively softened through the weekend. "We did have a hurt engine on
Friday's qualifying runs," reported Angelle. "Hurting engines is throwing us for
a loop for what's really going on, 'cause there's definitely something that's
holding us back." At the end of the day, the 7.04 was stout enough to place her
safely with the NHRA's new 12-spot qualifying rule.
qualifying round 2
9th Angelle Sampey left lane 7.085 at 186.18 mph
qualifying round 3
9th Angelle Sampey right lane 7.160 at 181.74 mph
qualifying round 4
9th Angelle Sampey left lane 7.182 at 183.52 mph
The minimum weight for S&S powered Buells was increased by 5 pounds before the
Houston event, yet it was the Buell of champion Matt Smith at the top of the
charts as the qualifying session ended.
As Sampey's first round of qualifying echoed the Gators, so it was in the first
round of eliminations. Her first round opponent again posted a scant redlight to
save the Rush team from a first round defeat. This time, though, it was the bike
that let Angelle down and not the other way around.
eliminations round 1
(W) Angelle Sampey .021 7.282 at 178.73 mph
Shawn Gann -.006(R) 7.196 at 182.92 mph
The G2 Motorsports flagship Buell driven by Chris Rivas was suffering through a
weekend very similar to Sampey's, but the redlight went the other direction for
Rivas, and the G2 team then focused their efforts on Sampey. "Ken Johnson and
Derrell Mullis came over and helped our crew guys Larry Cook and Curtis
Jackson," said Angelle. "All four of them, along with George, were working on my
motorcycle, checking everything, changing things and doing everything they
could. So it was good to see my teammate Chris Rivas's G2 team working on my
motorcycle. It shows that these two teams all work together and we're willing to
help each other out as best we can."
Despite the best efforts of the combined crew, the
Gainesville déjà vu continued in
round 2, where Sampey's Buell again got outran by eventual race winner Smith.
eliminations round 2
(W) Matt Smith .039 7.055 at 189.66 mph
Angelle Sampey .031 7.286 at 180.79 mph
"We were able to win first round again and maintain sixth position in the
points," said Bryce. "But I know that's trying to make egg salad out of bad
eggs. We ran really bad this weekend, never made a good run, and never figured
out what was wrong. Same with the G2 team, so we're glad that we got out of
there relatively unscathed. But the G2 customers really did well with the S&S
packages, getting first and second. We had seven out of sixteen qualifiers, and
that was really neat."
"It was really cool having the G2 team help us out after the first round of
eliminations today," said Angelle. "But unfortunately, we still didn't figure
out what's wrong. There's definitely a problem that they're gonna have to figure
out back at the shop."
"The Rush Racing team worked really hard, and Angelle drove really well," added
Bryce. "It was a neat effort that we all put forth. We worked hard enough to go
really fast, to go as slow as we did."
"I did a much better job of driving this weekend, and I was on my game with my
reaction times and shiftpoints," agreed Sampey. "I had a few glitches here and
there but really did a better job. I was more focused and did some practicing
back at home between
Gainesville and here. I was
determined to do a better job and feel like I did.
"But I'm very disappointed for my sponsors and all of our guys from Rush Racing,
CycleSpot.com, Doc's Harley-Davidson, and everyone who supports us. I'm pretty
disappointed we weren't able to put on a better show for them. It's pretty
frustrating. I know George is very frustrated, but we are gonna work it out. Our
team owners Karl and Kim Klement are being very good sports. They continue to
give me a pat on the back and tell me I'm doing a great job, and that's very
important. The mental game of drag racing can be just as devastating as the
actual performance, if you let yourself get down. And I don't think the team is
doing that. I think we're all high spirited and we're working really hard and
we're gonna figure it out. Everybody seems to be real motivated no matter how
bad things seem to be going for us so far. So when it comes around, it's gonna
be our turn and we're gonna look forward to being a thorn in everybody's side as
soon as possible."
"We're gonna go back to the home base and really dig into the machines and the
engines and figure out exactly what we made a mistake on and fix it," finished
Bryce. "Then we're gonna go test, go fast, and be prepared for the
Atlanta race.
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