NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

There are only two active Pro Stock Motorcycle riders at the 2022 Menards NHRA Nationals Presented By PetArmor who were here at the last NHRA race in 1997; Steve Johnson and Angelle Sampey.

That 1997 Fall race in Topeka saw Johnson qualify ninth with a  7.595-second run at  170.64 mph, compared to his 6.935-second run at 194.6 mph he qualified with this year. Sampey qualified second with a 7.464 at 173.27 mph vs. her 6.882  at 195.14 mph in 2022. The number one qualifier? Matt Hines with an impressive-for-1997 7.449-second at 175.50 mph run. 

While Sampey and the Vance & Hines team are partners now, 25 years ago, that was not the case—not by a long shot. Sampey was a force that had been unleashed on the Pro Stock Motorcycle class, and she would lay waste to the competition in ways few were prepared for. We asked her what she remembers of her last race here in 1997.

"I have a hard time remembering who I raced and what round I did what in from three to four years ago. But for some reason, these guys [Sampey motions to Eddie Krawiec and Andrew Hines] remember everything I did. They remember everything they did. I'm like, 'I don't remember that,' and Andrew is like, 'Yeah, remember you raced such and such in the final round and you won because...' and the truth is I have no clue what I did."

"But when they asked, 'Who won this [Topeka] race last?' and, 'When was the last time we came?' And I started thinking, I was like, 'I think it was me. Yeah, I think it was me against Matt Hines, and I won on a holeshot!" 

1997 Topeka Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying order

The reason Sampey says she remembers was that she said, "I heard with my own ears before we started the bike, the track announcer said that I 'didn't have a prayer,' laughed Sampey. "He said that 'Matt had been running so well, that I didn't have a prayer,' and that this 'was Matt's race to win.' And I was like, 'Oh yeah? Okay.' And we got it there, and I won on a holeshot!"

So what are her expectations now, with just 69 points separating the top five riders with just one race left before the start of the 2022 Countdown to the Championship begins? 

"I think it's gonna be, I mean, that would be a question for Andrew [Hines], but just from overhearing them and knowing myself a little bit—the wind and heat means we're not gonna be setting any records for sure. Well, national records, that is. I guess we'll set a track record, that'll be easy to do. But the good thing is that we are all dealing with the same weather. None of us really know what the heck it's gonna be like out there cause we haven't been here. It's not like Vance & Hines has a log book of tuneups for this racetrack, and no one else does. So that's gonna be interesting."

Sampey's Crew chief Andrew Hines had a similar perspective on coming back to Topeka. "Before I even ran an event in ’02 [he started in ’02 in Denver], we came here and tested on Monday after the 2002 Topeka National event with Harley. I was riding my Suzuki, but it never left the starting line. It had some bad carburetor fuel jets in it. We didn't know that at the time, so we took it back and rewired it. I got to pop the clutch on the starting line with it twice, but I have never been down the track."

When you have no data and no experience, where does a Pro Stock Motorcycle team start with their setup? Hines said they'll start with their Norwalk calibrations because "the air conditions aren't too dissimilar." 

"We'll start with Norwalk's base tune-up and make a few changes. There's a little more humidity here than we had on late Sunday in Norwalk. So we'll make changes for that, but for the most part, you know, the bike is fairly easy to tune from track to track. Our V-twins were definitely more finicky. These Suzukis are more forgiving racetrack to racetrack."

So now, 25 years later, what does Andrew think of his brother Matt's 1997 run here?

"[Matt] went 7. 399 in the final. Maybe we can shut off at 600 feet and go 7.39 with our bikes now," joked Hines.