NHRA Newsmakers: March 21, 2006
NHRA Newsmakers Your inside glimpse at the world's fastest motorsport WHO'S HOT! * THE WOMEN: Angelle Sampey (Matthews, La.) continued the winning trend of the women drivers that Melanie Troxel (Avon, Ind.) started in the Top Fuel Dragsters by winning the first Pro Stock Motorcycle event of the year at Gainesville, Fla. Sampey won the event when her teammate Antron Brown (Indianapolis) fouled at the starting line. She won the race with a time of 7.138 seconds. Other women that did well were Troxel, who finished second behind Dave Grubnic (Ypsilanti, Mich.), but kept her points lead; and Erica Enders (Houston), who finished second in the Pro Stock category behind Tom Martino (Farmingdale, N.J.). There was one other female winner at the event, and that was the daughter of Funny Car driver John Force (Yorba Linda, Calif.), Ashley Force (Yorba Linda, Calif.), who won in Top Alcohol dragster. The last time two women won at a POWERade Series event was at Pomona, Calif. in 2004 when Sampey won Pro Stock Motorcycle and Force won Super Gas. NEWS NUGGETS * MAKING THE MOST OF HIS CHANCES: Tom Martino, who only races select Pro Stock events, took advantage of his opportunity at the Gatornationals. Racing against Erica Enders in the final round, Martino showed that he should be racing more events. He claimed his fifth career victory when he made sure that Enders could not recover from severe tire shakes at the start by racing to the finish line with a time of 6.677 at 205.80 mph. This was his first event of 2006 and his first win in five years. Last year, Martino was the runner-up at the season-ending Auto Club NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif. * GAINESVILLE UNDER CONSTRUCTION: Immediately following the finish of the ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals, Gainesville Raceway will begin working on a multi-million dollar facelift. Included in the expansion are new luxury VIP Skybox Suites that will be built atop the South Side Grandstands. In all, eight individual suites will be built offering suite holders both inside and outside seating and unparalleled views of both the drag strip and the open pits. Also included in the expansion is a brand-new Top Eliminator Club. The club will be a permanent 15,000-square-foot facility that will feature removable side curtains that will protect against inclement weather. As part of the master renovation of Gainesville Raceway, plans also call for a new race control building with a state of the art media center and 360 degree race control center on the top floor. The suites will be finished in time for the 2007 Gatornationals event. * RINGERS GLOVES RAISES THE STAKES: Pro Stock Motorcycle racers have an added incentive to do well. Ringers Gloves has extended its sponsorship into the 2010 season. Ringers Gloves will boost the series purse to $76,000. The Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle, a race-within-a-race bonus program for the season's best Pro Stock Motorcycle racers, is contested during the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis Raceway Park, the world's most prestigious drag race. The eight Pro Stock Motorcycle riders who qualify for the Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle will have the opportunity to earn more money through an increased awards payout, which includes a $61,000 race payout and $15,000 in qualifying bonuses throughout the Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle series. With the increased payout structure, the winner of the Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle will earn $25,000; the runner-up $10,000; the two semifinalists $6,000 each; and the four first round finishers $3,500 apiece. INSIDE THE NUMBERS * 38 AND GOING STRONG: Angelle Sampey claimed her 38th career Pro Stock Motorcycle victory over the weekend. The win increases her position as the winningest female racer in a major motorsports series. She is ninth among victory leaders in NHRA, tied with Top Fuel driver Larry Dixon. HE SAID, SHE SAID *** WHO IS THAT MAN?: Rob Geiger reports on nhra.com that John Force has his name in large text on his firesuit. Does he like it? "Oh he hates it," Force's PR guy Dave Densmore said. "It was an idea the marketing people came up with and he was totally against it but that's how his suit came back from the factory. We all tease him about it." DRIVERS TELL ALL * THE BATTLE IS ON: The No. 1 and No. 2 leaders in Pro Stock points had a clever exchange of words last week before the ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals. Greg Anderson, No. 1 in points, drew some extra motivation and chuckles from the comments of former boss Warren Johnson, No. 2 in points, who beat him in the final of Phoenix when his car jumped out of second gear and he couldn't complete the run. Among other things, Johnson jabbed at Anderson's engine program when he said that "If [Anderson] isn't ahead of me by the eighth mile then he's toast." "I guess he's got to talk when he gets a chance because he doesn't have that many moments in the sun any more," Anderson said. "He shouldn't have been too proud to walk out of there with a trophy. I wouldn't have been. He got an easy one. He should've lost in the first round, the second round, and the final. He just got lucky, bottom line. We had a little tire shake and the car jumped out of second gear. When I slammed it back in there the teeth weren't perfectly lined up. It happens probably once every 200 runs. There was no damage other than losing the round. It was just bad timing for it to happen in the final. "Let Warren talk. If he really and truly thinks he's the guy to beat then that's perfect for us." For more information, contact NHRA Communications at (626) 914-4761. To access the latest NHRA press releases, electronic images and other information please visit the NHRA Media Center at http://media.nhra.com <http://media.nhra.com/> Brian Hacker NHRA, Media Relations Manager O - (626) 250-2424 C - (626) 428-0280