Vance & Hines announced today that the NHRA’s winningest female, Angelle Sampey, will ride one of the company’s new four-valve Suzuki-powered race bikes—with the WAR Hayabusa body—sponsored by food producer Mission Foods, in the 2021 NHRA Camping World series.

Good for Angelle! She won a race for V&H last season and was left without a ride when their Harley team was shut down. Her size makes her a much better fit than either Andrew Hines or Eddie Krawiec for a Suzuki.

Now, the fact that the V&H trailer will be rolling to races this season sheds different light on what Joey Gladstone told me in this article from late last week. Krawiec made a Facebook post alluding to “fake news” and Gladstone posted something about being used for “click bait.”

The fact is, the V&H V-Twin formerly known as a Harley-Davidson has been rebranded for NHRA competition. I’m told we should expect to see one running with legal bodywork in April. But will it be out of the Reed Motorsports trailer, the V&H trailer (with Hines and/or Krawiec riding), or both?

Was Gladstone playing me? Or did he speak out of line? Honestly, I don’t know. I contacted him only to find out what exactly was going on with the David Barron deal and he instead started texting about “Waiting for the deal to close with the Vance and Hines deal cuz we might be doing the whole Harley motor thing.” That led, of course, to an immediate phone call from me and the article.

So keep this new Angelle news in mind when considering who exactly will be running V&H V-Twins this year. Matt Smith, for one, posted this in the Eatmyink Facebook Group discussion on the topic: “I put an order in for a V&H motor over 3 weeks ago before the public or any other racer knew about it coming out… But I was told it would be August to September before I could get one…”

But back to Angelle, a three-time NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle (PSM) champion. Sampey’s 43 NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle wins make her the NHRA’s top female athlete. She has the fourth most wins in NHRA PSM history.  She will be among the first to ride the recently described Vance & Hines four-valve Suzuki, originally announced to me by Byron Hines and revealed to Eatmyink readers in September of 2019.

“I’m so excited to be part of the Vance & Hines team again this year,” said Sampey.  “This is a first-class company that gives me the best bikes I’ve ever ridden. I’m feeling really good about what we can accomplish together this year. “

“We’re happy to be working with Angelle once again,” said Vance & Hines President & CEO, Mike Kennedy. “Vance & Hines is in a wonderful position right now. We’ve got one of the top riders in the sport aboard our outstanding new equipment and we have Mission Foods as our new Team Partner. I couldn’t have hoped for anything better as we go into the 2021 season.”

Multi-billion-dollar company Mission Foods, the world’s largest manufacturer of best-selling tortillas and wraps, joins the effort as a sponsor of the new team. The food giant shows its passion for motorsports with sponsorships in IndyCar, AFT and GT3 racing and now enjoys relationships with both Arrow McLaren SP and Vance & Hines.

“Terry Vance and I have talked about putting together a race team, and I was overjoyed to get his invitation to work with Angelle and the Vance & Hines crew,” said Juan Gonzalez, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mission Foods. “NHRA has a great tradition and loyal fan base, we can’t wait to see our brand and products at this year’s NHRA races.”

The team will feature the yellow and red Mission Foods logo on the race bikes, rider, crew and the team transporter at all scheduled Pro Stock Motorcycle events for the 2021 season. The NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle season starts in mid-March at the Gator Nationals in Gainesville FL.

story comprised of Vance & Hines PR and Tim Hailey additional commentary. 

Suzuki image courtesy of Vance & Hines, Angelle photo by Hailey