ANGELLE SAMPEY Makes Historic Top Fuel Debut One Week After Father’s Death

December 17, 2025

• Three-time NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle champion ANGELLE SAMPEY made her first Top Fuel dragster pass at Las Vegas just one week after her father’s death, fulfilling his final wish to see her drive the nitro-powered machine. The 46-time national event winner had been planning the test for months, but weather delays meant her father missed witnessing the milestone by mere days. Despite carrying that emotional weight, SAMPEY delivered a clean 0.075 reaction time on her licensing run, proving her transition skills translate across categories.
• Working with Antron Brown’s team, SAMPEY methodically prepared for the jump from Top Alcohol Dragster to Top Fuel, using her 2024 TAD championship season as a bridge to the sport’s premier class. The test revealed both the physical differences she expected and surprising similarities that helped calm her pre-run anxiety. “When I was sitting in it, everything’s exactly the same,” she noted, though the increased power “buried me into the seat a little bit more” than her familiar A/Fuel rides.
• The licensing session ended prematurely when mechanical issues cut short her second planned pass, but SAMPEY’s controlled first run at 330 feet gave her the confirmation she needed. After years of feeling “miserable” in her final Pro Stock Motorcycle seasons, she now embraces what she calls an unexpected career direction: “I would have never guessed that this is where I needed to be, and here I am and I couldn’t be happier.” The test positions her for a potential Top Fuel campaign, representing a significant milestone for women’s participation in NHRA’s most powerful category.

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