With her marketable personality and good looks, and her ability to go fearlessly fast, one could say Angelle Sampey was Danica Patrick before Danica Patrick(1). When she started out in NHRA drag racing in 1996, the sport was male dominated. That has since changed, with Sampey playing a significant role with the success she's had on her Pro Stock Motorcycle. She's not only won races (41 in all), she's won over thousands of fans and is now one of NHRA's most popular and recognizable drivers. But she no longer has a ride. Only 38 and still in her racing prime, Sampey has been sidelined by the sagging economy. Not only is she sitting out Gatornationals this weekend, she's sitting out the entire 2009 NHRA season after failing to find a new owner. "I was hoping and praying something would come through, but the call never came," she said. "It's been hard. I've been competing for 13 years. This is something I'm going to struggle with."
Sampey isn't alone. Some of the sports other prominent drivers also have been knocked off the track by the recession, including four of the top 10 Top Fuel drivers from a year ago - Rod Fuller, Doug Herbert, Hillary Will and 2006 Gatornationals winner Dave Grubnic. Some drivers in the other classes (Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Bike) also are without rides after failing to secure sponsors, among them, Tommy Johnson Jr. and his wife, Melanie Troxel, in Funny Car. The couple made headlines after racing head-to-head for the first time at last year's Gatornationals.
"It's a scary thing to think about what's happened to our sport," Sampey said. "It's not the sport of NHRA, it's the economy. It's affecting everybody. "Some fans think that if you're on television, you're rich. They put us on a pedestal. But we're no different than anybody else. It's scary. Every day I'm thinking about what I can do to pay my house note for next month. We're like anyone else who loses their job." Sampey said she and some of the other out-of-work drivers will be at Gainesville Raceway this weekend to do some networking that hopefully might lead to future employment. "I'm hoping to see some of the other drivers and see how they're doing," Sampey said. "It's good for people in the same state to get together. Hopefully, everyone is doing something on the side and doing OK financially. "It will be tough (being a spectator). I'll do my best to have a smile on my face." #SNIP# - Credit GatorSports
(1) 06.21.06: Angelle Sampey No Fan of Danica Patrick
Please forgive Angelle Sampey if she’s not caught up in the Danica Patrick fanfare. One of her crew members made mention of how much he liked the IRL driver and almost immediately Angelle expressed her dislike of the way the media plays up her gender more than her being a racer. Leave it to a crew member with too much time on his hands to exploit the situation. “There she is in my leathers,” Sampey said, when showing a picture of the good-natured fun with a Danica life size cut-out. “Here’s a picture of her posted in my locker and it says this is my locker now, get your s*** out biatch." “Here’s another picture of her holding a bottle of Cajun whoop ass.”
The crew member, who shall remain anonymous, is infatuated with Danica. A poster, which has since been defaced [allegedly by Sampey], hangs in the trailer. “They know I hate this whole female racer angle,” Sampey said. “I hate being asked about it and I hate being referred to as a female racer. It’s on my website but not by my doing. I don’t like the whole topic. I like to be noticed for the attributes of my team and not my gender.” Sampey says she made comments in the shop and that set it all off. Angelle’s leathers on the cut-out started it all. The crew even set up a camera for Sampey reaction. It wasn’t pretty. “I went in the restroom and there was a life-sized picture of Danica from the neck up taped to the toilet seat. I had chewed up some M&Ms and smeared them on her mouth. That ended it all.” At least that’s what Sampey thought. Her NHRA POWERade sign outside of her pit area was replaced with Danica’s likeness from the chest up. - Credit CP
I think a veteran racing friend said it best. "Danica couldn't carry Angelle's bra". From AS's lips… "I will be racing". - fla
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