For the first time in drag racing history, three female racers had a chance to win a Pro title Sunday at Gainesville Raceway. In the end, only Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Angelle Sampey got it done, winning the 37th annual ACDelco Gatornationals for her 38th career victory, thereby padding her designation as the most prolific female racer of all time. Sampey's win was gift-wrapped by teammate Antron brown, who fouled at the starting line by .008 second.
It was Dave Grubnic who spoiled championship leader Melanie Troxel's chance to win in Top Fuel, while part-timer Tom Martino denied 22-year-old Erica Enders in Pro Stock. In Funny Car, a category bereft of females, Ron Capps beat John Force to stay out front in the POWERade standings, but Force took solace in the fact that his daughter Ashley won the Top Alcohol Dragster title.
It appears the larger 101 cubic-inch Suzukis are working as planned as Sampey and Brown rode a pair of U.S. Army-branded GSXR's to the money round. If not for his red-light start, Brown could have won the race as he actually ran four thousandths of a second quicker than Sampey with a 7.134 to her 7.138.
"I brought Antron in [the media center] for a reason because he deserves to be here as much as I do," Sampey said. "In the pits before the final he had hurt his transmission and they had to thrash to change motors on his bike. Right when they got done with that and we were supposed to leave for the staging lanes we realized my shift light wasn't working. I said, 'Let's just go,' but Antron refused to leave the pit until we got it fixed. He said they can't have a race without both of us. That's an awesome gesture. I wish I could share the trophy with him.
"It was awesome to see three girls in the finals. I thought Melanie and Erica would win too the way they were running. It didn't happen this time but it's going to happen, and not just one time. And once Ashley gets into Funny Car we'll have an all-girl winner's circle."
Sampey is now in a tie for ninth place on the all-time win's list with Larry Dixon and has drawn within seven victories of legend Dave Schultz for the class lead. In 136 starts, she is 38-21 in finals. Brown is 14-15 overall.
Grubnic's second career win wasn't pretty as his StriVectin-SD dragster labored to a 4.943 at 317.90 mph in the final, but with Troxel lost in a cloud of tire smoke 100 feet off the starting line, it was good enough for an easy win. Troxel eventually drifted across in 7.995 seconds at 93.59 mph in her Skull Gear rail.
"My first win last year in Topeka was great because I'd been runner-up so many times," Grubnic said. "Then you hear everyone say the floodgates are going to open but it didn't happen. We had to wait until now to get No. 2 but it feels great and winning this race is something.
"Seeing all the women in the final is great for the sport. Of course, Shirley Muldowney, who is on our team, got it all started and she'll tell you that, like these girls today will tell you, they just want to be thought of as competitors. That's how I look at them.
"I think the fact we tested with the new Goodyear tire and then stuck with it through the first two races helped us today. We've learned its personality probably a little better than some of the other teams."
Prior to the final, Grubnic's dragster was extremely consistent, staying in the 4.5-second range in wins over Andrew Cowin, Bob Vandergriff, and teammate Doug Kalitta.
Although she lost, Troxel's run to her third final of the year and fourth final in a row padded her lead in the standings to 73 over "Hot Rod" Fuller. She started the day up just 14 markers.
Reigning series champ Tony Schumacher lost in the first round and is sixth in the standings, 101 points behind his teammate Troxel.
Martino only races select events but he always seems to make the most of them. Last year he raced one time and made it all the way to the final before settling for runner-up honors. This time he cashed in for his fifth career victory even though this was his first event of the year.
The veteran Kendall Oil driver's victim this time was Enders, who drove the wheels off her Slammers Ultimate Milk Chevrolet Cobalt to get to the final, before getting knocked off her game just off the starting line when her car went into severe tire shake. Martino would have been tough to beat any way as he cruised to a 6.677 at 205.80 mph to take the win and deny Enders a chance at becoming the first female winner in class history.
"I think driving is the easiest part of Pro Stock racing," Martino said. "The preparation and work leading in is where it's done. I talk to (engine supplier) Larry Morgan and it don't matter when it is he's usually at the shop working on the motors. I may not have driven much in the last few years, at least in competition, but I test Bob Benza's car and V. Gaines' cars all the time so I don't feel like I'm rusty behind the wheel.
"I told Erica she'll win way more races than I ever will. She's a win waiting to happen. I'm just glad that first one didn't come today with me in the other lane. She's very talented and she's got a lot of pressure on her being 22 years old and driving a car with a big sponsor. One thing I had in my corner is I had nothing to lose and I've been here a few times. She might have been pushing it too hard today but she'll get hers."
Remarkably, Martino is just 10 points out of the POWERade top 10 with his win here. Enders moved all the way from eighth to third place. Greg Anderson remains the leader by 75 points over Warren Johnson and 89 over Enders.
Despite racing to the Funny Car final, Capps still found himself needing to win it all to maintain the POWERade points lead. But the driver of the Brut Dodge Stratus R/T rose to the occasion and took out Force with a 4.860 at 316.78 mph to Force's 4.990 at 305.49 mph, which was erased after he crossed the center line.
"This is one of those races that when it comes time to retire you definitely want to look back and know that you won it," Capps said. "It's right there with Indy and Pomona as far as what it means to win here. It's a biggie, and it's awesome to add this trophy to the collection.
"I have so much confidence in this car. It goes down the track 99 percent of the time and that means so much to a driver. I told Ace [crew chief Ed McCulloch] going into the final that the Force guys knew they needed to get down the track to beat us. It puts the pressure on them. We're not the quickest or the fastest but we go down the track every run.
"I think battling cancer has really changed Ace. He used to give me a look like a grouchy old man when he'd look in the car. Now he has this little smirk that says, 'Hang on kid, we're gonna have some fun.' It's so cool to see."
Capps' lead in the standings grew from 15 to 31 over Force. This was the 18th victory of his career in 39 final rounds. Force falls to 119-70 when there's a trophy on the line. This was the second final of the year for both men.
