I going to take this opportunity to vent. I don’t know yet if what I am about to write is more for your reading pleasure or for my mental clarity. I just know that there are some things that I need to say to myself and maybe you might want to hear it, too.

Once again I am sitting in an airport but this time I am not as happy as I was the last time I wrote my blog while waiting for my plane. I am in San Francisco and was scheduled to fly home at 10:45 a.m. When I checked in at the Southwest ticket counter at 9 a.m., the agent informed me that my luggage was being checked in too late for my flight and that it would be on a different plane. I asked, “Why is it late when I don’t leave for another hour and 45?” She says, “ Ma’am, you leave in 20 minutes; your flight is leaving at 9:20 and you may not make it either.” Well, I was very confused because I booked the 10:45 flight and my itinerary said that I depart at 10:45, but what do I know, right? So she looks into it and discovers that I really was on the 10:45 flight but it is delayed till 12:30 p.m.,, so they rebooked me on the 9:20 flight. How thoughtful of them to do that for me and not tell me about it. Well after the 20 minutes it took her to figure this out, the 9:20 flight had already gone, so she had to redo my entire itinerary. Now I don’t leave till this afternoon and won’t get home till midnight.

I hate flying! I would much rather ride in the rig with my guys and see the country. I would do exactly that if I lived where the rig lives but I don’t. I used to think that my friends Beth and Mickey who travel AND LIVE in their motorhome were crazy for not having a house to go home to, but now I understand. How cool must it be to not have to pack or unpack, never miss a flight or be delayed for eight hours and especially to live somewhere different every week. Hey Monaco ... got any good deals for me?

Just kidding ... flying is a pain sometimes, but I do love my home and I know how tired my guys get from driving all those miles week after week. God Bless you guys! All the work you do, day in and day out, like a traveling circus from one race to the next. It’s the crew guys who deserve the limelight, not me!

Especially when things go the way they did in Sonoma. OMG!!!! I was so disappointed in myself for the red-light in the second round. I turned off of the track and then just sat there dazed and confused to why and how I could have been so STUPID to have done that! That is NOT me! I do realize that I am human and I do make mistakes, but a .075 red light?!!!! What the heck was I thinking?!!

I was so sorry and so embarrassed that I did not want to return to my pits and face my team. I asked George to let me stay at the end of the track for a while. He patiently sat with me and was such a good sport and coach about it. He let me vent as I rambled on and on about what a stupid thing I had done and that I knew I had thrown the race away for my team.  I wish I could find the words to tell you guys just how much it hurts to be in that position. My guys did such an outstanding job this weekend. We were fast and consistent and we won the Full Throttle award because of it. I had a really good shot at winning the race. I felt as if I was extremely focused and determined to win and I thought that I was prepared mentally and physically. Which is why I am so disappointed in what I did. I did however, let myself begin to give up and even considered quitting. I told George that I didn’t know if I could handle the pressure anymore. Fortunately for me, he really is a great coach and after listening to him tell me that all I have to do is go back to the basics, I reminded myself that I have a great team, and a great opportunity and the greatest support system with my friends, family and fans.

 I can do this! I will do this! I am not a quitter,... never have been, NEVER WILL BE!!  I am going home and I am going to train harder. Practice more. I am going to eat, sleep, breath, dream, think, pray, live, day in and day out doing whatever it takes to be the best motorcycle racer I can possibly be. Better than I thought I was, physically and mentally!

That’s how I got here in the first place, that’s what I am going back to! When I started out on this journey 12 years ago, there were only a couple of people who believed in me. Nearly everyone laughed at my dream of becoming a Pro Stock Motorcycle world champion. It was like I was saying “I am going to win the lottery.” I remember people telling me that my family and I didn’t have enough money to pay my way into the sport. They said, “It’ll never happen, you’re too little,  you can’t do it, you are just a girl, you don’t know anybody” ... this list of negativity went on and on. Well, they were right about a few things. I didn’t know anybody and I didn’t have any money. The names David and Gail Sampey (my parents) surely didn’t mean anything to anyone in the NHRA but somewhere along the line my heart and my mind couldn’t hear what they were telling me.

My mind did not comprehend “You can’t do it”  I fought my way into a world that most people didn’t think I belonged in, and I did it by being determined, stubborn, mean, wishful, dreamful, angry, restless, tireless, fearless, and willing to sacrifice most anything. The fire that was burning in my heart to succeed was so big that failure was not a possibility.  

I am going to find the girl in me that attended Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School in December 1995. I drove there with borrowed money, a heart full of hope and a mind set to conquer the world! Well at least the Pro Stock motorcycle world.

Today I realize that the only disappointment I feel in myself is that I started to quit. I started to believe that I couldn’t do this anymore. What a stupid thing to do. I am human and I will make mistakes, but I do still love this sport and I am st ill obsessed with winning. I have been blessed with great health, a wonderful family, an awesome team, tremendous support, and an opportunity to redeem myself at eight more races.

 I consider my life a no lose situation. For it to be a success, I know that, if it is to be, it is up to me!! I am still very sorry for what I did because I let my team down. But instead of feeling sorry for myself and wasting my time, energy and thoughts on the past, I am going back to work. I am going to Brainerd, which happens to be the only track that I’ve been racing at all these years and never won, and I am going to win! That’s the only way I will allow myself to think from now on.

Here are a few things that I believe ...

I believe that it’s taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.

I believe that you can keep going long after you think you can’t.

I believe that we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.

I believe that either you control your attitude or it will control you.

I believe that money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I believe that sometimes the people that you expect to kick you when you are down will be the ones to help you get back up.

I believe that it isn’t always enough to be forgiven by others, sometimes, you have to learn to forgive yourself.

I believe that no matter how bad your heart is broken that the world doesn’t stop for your grief.

I believe that our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.

I believe that two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.

I believe that credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.

I believe that the happiest people don’t necessarily have the best of everything, they just make the most of everything!

and finally, I believe that with Christ, all things are possible!

Now for the joke of the day.

Reverend Boudreaux and Pastor Thibodeaux’s churches were across the street from each other. They were standing by the road pounding a sign into the ground that read, “Da End is Near! Turn Yo Self Around Now, Before It’s Too Late!” As a car sped by the driver yelled, “You religious NUTS.”

From the curve they heard screeching tires and a big splash. Boudreaux turns to Thibodaux and asks, “Do ya tink maybe da sign should jus say Bridge Out?”

And before I go....

We have a few items on eBay again. My Army leathers, My Winston Team Uniform shirt are up now. The auction closes for those items on Friday August 1st, and of course the proceeds will go to my adoption of little Abby Jo and to Andy and his friends at Jungle Friends, www.junglefriends.org. We’ll be adding more things this week (the springs that were in my Army Suzuki when I set the National ET record of 6.871!) and as usual you can get your Angelle and Rush Racing apparel and merchandise at www.goangelle.com.

Well that’s it for now gang, Thank you for reading, for your support and especially your prayers!!