2020 NHRA Indy Nationals Results
Cycle News Staff | August 11, 2020
Angelle Sampey, Vance & Hines Take NHRA Indianapolis Victory
Former champ Angelle Sampey won her first NHRA race since 2016, and she did it on a Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson.
By Kevin McKenna
Hell didn’t freeze over, and pigs didn’t suddenly learn to fly, but in an equally unlikely occurrence, three-time NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle Champion Angelle Sampey won an event riding a Harley-Davidson for the Vance & Hines team. Once sworn enemies, the two formed an improbable alliance two years ago, and it finally paid dividends when Sampey defeated first-time finalist Chris Bostick to win the Dodge NHRA Indy Nationals title, August 7-9.
For Sampey, the win came just two days after her 50th birthday, and more than four years after her most recent win at the 2016 Englishtown race. In the final, Sampey was nearly perfect off the starting line with a .001 reaction time and ran a 6.880 for the victory as Bostick trailed with a 6.950. Moments earlier, the final was in doubt when Sampey’s crew had to make last-minute repairs to a faulty clutch cable. Quick action by the Vance & Hines team got the problem fixed in time for her to make the run and win for the 43rd time in her career.
“I just tried to stay calm because I didn’t know if they were going to get my bike fixed in time,” said Sampey. “Chris was doing such a good job and luck seemed to be on his side. They got it fixed and we got it done. Thank you, Vance & Hines and Harley-Davidson. I told you I was going to do it. I’ll bet you thought I was dead but I’m not dead. Happy birthday to me!”
Photo Courtesy of Harley-Davidson
If not for Sampey’s impressive performance, the Dodge NHRA Indy Nationals might well have been the third-straight event to feature a first-time winner in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class. Rookie Jianna Salinas earned her first victory at the 2019 Auto Club Finals in Pomona and several weeks ago at the E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Nationals in Indy, Ryan Oehler also collected his first NHRA title.
Bostick nearly joined that group when he reached the first final of his career. Racing in his 22nd career Pro Stock Motorcycle race, Bostick parked his own Suzuki for the weekend and leased a bike from the Stoffer/Underdahl team. That proved to be a wise decision as he nearly doubled his career win total of four rounds on Sunday by beating Angie Smith, Oehler and Eddie Krawiec.
Results
- Angelle Sampey (H-D)
- Chris Bostick (Suz)
