Sampey made her way back into the winner’s circle for the first time in more than a year but it took a malfunctioning kill switch to rob Gladstone of the win in the final.
"I felt very guilty, especially after what happened with Cory," said Sampey. "And I know how bad Joey wants this. And I want to see everybody win their first race. And it was probably the least happiest I've ever been to win. And I was emotionally torn because I wanted to win it so bad for my friends and family back at home. I wanted to win it for my team. I wanted to win for Vance & Hines and Mission but I hated to take it away from Joey in that fashion. "
RPM Round By Round:
Round 1 - Angelle faced off against Ryan Oehler and got the win after a slow reaction time. She was behind up to about 500 feet but then powered by to win by about 16 feet with a run of 6.848 at 195.79 MPH.
Round 2 - Teammate Andrew Hines was up next and Hines was looking to even up as Sampey held a 17-16 advantage in previous meetings. Hines fell short as this time Sampey had a much better reaction time and grabbed the win with a 6.907 ET at 193.85 MPH.
Round 3 - Another teammate in Eddie Krawiec was matched up against Sampey in the semi's. She held a 9-7 advantage in prior races and the advantage continued as Sampey was virtually perfect at the line with a .001 reaction time. She moved on to the final with a run of 6.863 at 194.94 MPH.
Round 4 - The finals put Sampey against Joey Gladstone who had a rough day after colliding with his teammate, Cory Reed in the 2nd round. Gladstone had a 4-3 advantage against Sampey in prior events but Sampey gets the win and evens it up. While Gladstone seemed to have this locked up, his kill switch became unplugged before the finish and Sampey made the pass.
See a full recap by Phil Burgess: