{"id":92194,"date":"2023-08-25T09:16:47","date_gmt":"2023-08-25T16:16:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=92194"},"modified":"2023-08-25T09:16:47","modified_gmt":"2023-08-25T16:16:47","slug":"angelle-sampey-moves-from-two-wheels-to-four-with-ab-motorsports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/angelle-sampey-moves-from-two-wheels-to-four-with-ab-motorsports\/","title":{"rendered":"Angelle Sampey Moves from Two Wheels to Four with AB Motorsports"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Antron<\/a>
Photos: Courtesy of AB Motorsports<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Antron Brown started AB Motorsports, his intent was more than to have a team that would promote his exemplary career in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series, where the former Pro Stock Motorcycle standout and current three-time Top Fuel champion has plied his trade. Brown\u2019s immediate goal remains to win more races and championships for himself, of course, but also to keep the flow of talent coming into the sport with the team\u2019s Accelerate Program.<\/p>\n

This driver development program has its first entry. It\u2019s three-time Pro Stock Motorcycle champion Angelle Sampey, Brown\u2019s former two-wheel teammate at Don Schumacher Racing and currently the ambassador for Mission Foods and its #2Fast#2Tasty Challenge for all four Camping World categories. Even before the announcement of their new association, Sampey traded two wheels for four and earned her Top Alcohol Dragster license.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Throughout the 2023 season, Sampey has performed warmup procedures in Brown\u2019s Top Fuel dragster, allowing her to become comfortable in the seat of a nitro-burning dragster. Following last weekend\u2019s 41st Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway, Sampey belted into Jasmine Salinas\u2019 Scrappers Racing A\/Fuel dragster to start her licensing process, one she finished on Wednesday, August 23rd at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. With her license in hand, Sampey is prepared to run three A\/Fuel contests this season to prepare for a full season in 2024. Her longterm goal is to move up to Top Fuel as Brown\u2019s AB Motorsports teammate.<\/p>\n

Sampey was exhilarated after her first licensing passes. \u201cI felt every emotion I can think of,\u201d she said. \u201cMy nerves were so bad, but I was determined to overcome them. After two runs, I thought to myself, \u2018this isn\u2019t for me\u2019 but I kept going because I knew I was capable and it was just a matter of time until my brain would catch up.\u201d It\u2019s been nine months since Sampey turned a wheel in anger: \u201cToday I went faster at the eighth-mile mark than I\u2019ve ever been at the quarter [mile]. After the third and fourth runs, I knew that Antron was right and I would enjoy it!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Brown made his transition from Pro Stock Motorcycle to Top Fuel in 2008; he encouraged his former teammate to consider the move after the 2022 season. Watching her first few passes in the nitro-injected dragster, Brown was \u201cthoroughly impressed.\u201d As he watched, he noted how much more comfortable Sampey became with each lap. \u201cWhat happens is, just like me, after the off-season when I get back into the car, it feels like a rocket ship. It feels day and night stupid fast, because your body isn\u2019t acclimated to going those speeds,\u201d he reminded.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo for her to be back out after almost a year and then to be in a vehicle that she isn\u2019t used to driving that goes 100mph faster, she did a great job. She went over 255mph. We\u2019ve got all the cobwebs out. Now that she\u2019s got the gist of it down, it\u2019s going to be fine-tuning those small things, and once she gets that, it\u2019s going to be on,\u201d Brown said of the racer who has 46 national event titles.<\/p>\n

With licensing in hand, Sampey will compete in the final three contests of the 2023 season: the Texas NHRA Fall Nationals in Dallas, NHRA Nevada Nationals at Las Vegas and on the In-N-Out Burger Dragstrip at the NHRA Finals in Pomona this November. She is slated to drive Jasmine Salinas\u2019 dragster with Brown\u2019s guidance, together with support from Mission Foods and GTTRX.com.<\/p>\n

Sampey said she \u201cfeels like I\u2019ve been reborn. This is a fresh start for me. I told Antron that even if this would be the only time I ever get to drive a dragster, I would be happy with what I accomplished. I had an amazing time. Working with Jasmine Salinas and Scrappers Racing was a great choice. They all made me feel at home and comfortable, even in the most uncomfortable situation I\u2019ve ever been in. I simply cannot wait to do it again1\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Brown\u2019s AB Motosports Accelerate Program intends to provide an array of resources for racers looking to make their next step. The Accelerate Program isn\u2019t only for drivers who might eventually compete under the AB Motorsports umbrella. Brown intends to offer resources to both drivers and teams at any level or form of motorsports seeking to capitalize on the team\u2019s expertise. Services offered include a full array, from driver coaching and licensing opportunities to public speaking training, marketing guidance and technical support.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to do whatever we can to help benefit the sport as a whole,\u201d Brown emphasized. \u201cWith the support of our partners, we have the opportunity to help other athletes level up. There are so many talented people in this sport who just need an extra boost to take that next step,. Our goal is to offer that helping hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sampey will debut in Top Alcohol Dragster in Texas, which was the site of her most recent achievement on two wheels: in the 2022 race at Texas Motorplex, Sampey set the Pro Stock Motorcycle track elapsed time (E.T.) record of 6.728 seconds. \u201dThere\u2019s not a chance I\u2019d even think about driving an A\/Fuel Dragster, let alone a Top Fuel car, with anyone else. Antron is the only person I\u2019d do this with,\u201d Sampey revealed. \u201cAfter last season I called him for advice for starting my own Pro Stock Motorcycle team. He talked me into moving on. We both agreed that there was nothing left for me to accomplish on a motorcycle d it\u2019s time for me to give four wheels a try. I\u2019m so glad I did.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Sampey conducts this three-race campaign in 2023, she plans to campaign a full 2024 season in an A\/Fuel car, including a mix of NHRA Camping World Series national events, together with NHRA Lucas Oil Series regional races, all to gain seat time. Sampey will continue her role as ambassador for Mission Foods and their #2Fast2Tasty Challenge program. Her success in the race car could mean a future opportunity to drive an AB Motorsports Top Fuel car.<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Angelle Sampey prepares to trade two wheels for four as she debuts in a Top Alcohol car for Antron Brown’s AB Motorsports in Dallas.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":92211,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3465,3470,5029],"tags":[7457,9869,3018,82,9267,9559,7,9632,9340,73],"class_list":["post-92194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drag-racing","category-news","category-racing","tag-ab-motorsports","tag-accelerate-program","tag-angelle-sampey","tag-antron-brown","tag-camping-world-drag-racing-series","tag-jasmine-salinas","tag-nhra","tag-scrappers-racing","tag-top-alcohol-dragster","tag-top-fuel"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/2332-04362A-min.webp","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-nZ0","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92194"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92194\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92215,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92194\/revisions\/92215"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}