Suzuki-Power Continues to Dominate the Pro Stock Motorcycle Standings
BREA, CA – September 19, 2022 — (Motor Sports NewsWire) – Vance & Hines/Mission Suzuki riders Angelle Sampey and Eddie Krawiec opened their championship runs in the first round of the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle Countdown to the Championship by advancing to the second round of eliminations at the NHRA Pep Boys Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway on Sunday.
After making the cut for the 10-rider Countdown two weeks ago at the U.S. Nationals, Sampey began the weekend by qualifying her Suzuki Hayabusa in the fourth starting position with a 6.782-second/201.07 mph run on the same track where she recorded the first win of her professional career in 1996. She won her first-round matchup against Jianna Evaristo on a holeshot, taking advantage of a quicker starting line reaction time to win with a near-identical elapsed time of 6.904 seconds at 199.23 mph compared to her opponent’s 6.903-second/194.16 mph pass. Unfortunately in round two, the shoe was on the other foot. Despite making a quicker and faster 6.902-second/197.19 mph pass, Sampey came up just inches short at the finish line against Marc Ingwersen, who ran 6.962-seconds at 194.72 mph.
Angelle Sampey (2) looks to bounce back in the Midwest Nationals
after a tough weekend in Maple Grove Raceway.
“My slower reaction time is part of why I lost the round, but the major reason I lost was because I totally missed the second-gear shift,” Sampey said. “It hit the rev limiter hard and that’s where the whole run went wrong. Marc gave me a big open door and I screwed it up with the missed shift, which isn’t normal for me. But I’m going to keep my head held high like I did after Indy and work even harder. The things I worked on helped me win the first round today with a good light, so I’m going to go home and work some more. I’ve just got to keep digging. That’s all I can do.”
Countdown qualifier Krawiec placed the team’s other Suzuki Hayabusa in the seventh starting position with a 6.797-second/198.44 mph run in Saturday’s qualifying session. In round one of eliminations, he ran 6.795 seconds at 198.44 mph, his fastest pass of the weekend, to advance past Karen Stoffer, who fouled at the starting line. Facing Angie Smith in the second round, he too fell victim to a holeshot loss, his 6.815-second/198.50 mph pass losing by a 0.0051-second margin to Smith’s 6.841-second/198.90 mph run.
After a tough qualifying,…
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