It has been a long time coming for Angelle Sampey.

While that may seem like an odd statement to attach to a driver with three career championships, 42 national event victories and a slew of firsts in her storied career, but on Sunday, that statement couldn’t have rang any more true.

You see for Sampey, who retired from racing in 2010 to start a family, Sunday’s win in Englishtown was much more than just her 42nd Wally, it is the first trophy that she will be able to show her five-year-old daughter. And that, Sampey says, is worth so much more than the 41 that came before.

“I know this is 42 wins, but my God it feels like my first,” an emotional Sampey said following her win Sunday in Englishtown. “I don’t feel like I had any wins before today. The career before is nonexistent to me. Even the championships. I am starting all over again. I had something to prove, and it took a while, but (my daughter) is 100 percent of the reason I came back.

“I started thinking, why come back? I have all the wins I need. I have three championships, there is no reason to come back. And then I looked down at her and I realized that she doesn’t know Angelle the racer, she only knows mommy.

“She’s seen all of the trophies, but to her it means nothing. And now that she is going to see it on TV, that is why I am so emotional. When you have a little five-year-old calling you mommy and looking up to you, I feel totally responsible to show her what she can do with her life. And I didn’t want to come back and show I couldn’t do it. I needed this win so badly.”

Sampey collected her first win since 2007 on her George Bryce-tuned bike driving for Star Racing, besting the best Pro Stock Motorcycle has to offer along the way. Sampey had wins over both of the Harley-Davidson drivers, besting Andrew Hines in round two and Eddie Krawiec in the semifinals, before defeating Jerry Savoie in the final of the NHRA Summernationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.

Sampey had a near-perfect .002 light in the final and rode that advantage to a 6.876-second pass at 194.41 mph to earn her first Wally in nearly a decade. Savoie had a 6.928 at 177.21 in the runner-up effort.

“I’ve been under the weather all day, and didn’t know if I could do this physically,” Sampey said. “I looked like a mental patient when I won, at the finish line. I told my crew chief to check everything on the bike because I was jumping all around and punching it. I had to calm myself down just to get my helmet off.”

While a win after so many years away was more than enough for Sampey, the fact that she had to go through both of the Harley-Davidson drivers to get there meant that much more to her.

“I appreciate those Harley boys so much. They are so badass on the race track,” Sampey said. “All I have to say is they make me a better racer. They race so clean, they don’t mess with you on the starting line. And to beat them means the world to me. And I told them both that.”

While still surprising, Sampey’s win wasn’t without merit. She qualified number one just one month ago in Atlanta and has been competitive throughout the year. On Sunday, she was able to put all of the pieces together and collect the win.

And to think it almost didn’t happen. Moments after the win, Sampey admitted she didn’t even want to even make the trip to New Jersey following a family vacation this past week and a bit of disappointment following a continued lack of success on the track.

“I said I didn’t want to come to this race. It’s not because of the track or the fans, I just got home from a long vacation. I was tired, I wasn’t feeling well, and my baby girl was crying for me not to come and I started thinking again, why am I doing this,” Sampey said. “I have done everything I can to win. My team has done everything they can and we are not winning. I was getting to the point of feeling discouraged and I told my husband, I don’t even really want to go. I am regretting saying that now.”

Now Sampey is back in the winner’s circle, hoisting a trophy exactly 20 years since earning her first win in career start number 199. But this time, daughter Ava is going to be able to join in the festivities.

“Now I can show her that, even if you are not winning every weekend, you just keep trying and you are going to get it,” Sampey said. “Being her role model, I don’t even have words for it. I looked at her in the camera and said, ‘see, I told you mommy was going to do it.’ That is a moment I will never forget.”
        
   

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