Angelle Sampey did a lot of her winning with team owner George Bryce and the Star Racing team. She retires with 41 wins and three world championships.

Angelle Sampey, the winningest woman in professional motorsports history, has announced her retirement as a professional drag racer.

Sampey, who totaled 41 victories during a 13-year NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle career, said she’s planning to pursue other career opportunities while looking to start a family with her fiancé, Seth Drago.

“I’m ready for a new challenge, including opening Coral Fever, a store specializing in fish, coral, and aquariums,” said the 39-year-old. “I made the ultimate sacrifice to postpone starting a family when I began racing. Now, I’m going to make the ultimate sacrifice to stop racing to get married (in June) and then try and start a family.”

The Louisiana native made her NHRA debut in 1996 at Bandimere Speedway outside of Denver and immediately raised eyebrows by advancing to the semifinals. She recorded her first win in her first final round later that season in Reading at the fourth event of her career.

“I will take away so many great memories from racing,” she said. “I’m certainly going to miss being around my fellow racers and, of course, the fans. I really enjoyed meeting the fans at every race. They were always there for me through the good times and the bad times.”

To be sure, Sampey did not experience many bad times since 1996. In fact, she captured three world championships and banked 18 wins between 2000 and 2002.

“Obviously, that was an extraordinarily exciting time period,” she offered. “I never imagined I could have that kind of success. I was very fortunate to be surrounded by a lot of talented people, including George Bryce [her crew chief during each championship season].”

In 2001, Sampey became the winningest woman in NHRA history, moving past Shirley Muldowney on the list. She went on to pocket seven wins that season, which remains the most wins recorded in a single season by a female competitor in NHRA history.

“To be honest, it was tough to comprehend what I had done after I surpassed Shirley’s win total [18],” she said. “After all, Shirley is one of the sport’s legends. I look up to her.”

Among Sampey’s final stats is a staggering 364 round-wins in 506 rounds of competition, or a win roughly 72 percent of the time she blasted down the quarter-mile.

“Again, I want to emphasize that I had a bunch of people help me along the way,” she related. “I could spend a day or more thanking each and every one. I’ll never forget any of them.”

Perhaps the one mark Sampey wishes she could have broken before exiting the sport was the most wins in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class – 45 – as established by the late Dave Schultz.

“That’s probably true,” she said. “I clearly could’ve hung around just to try and break that record. But, as I stated, it’s time for a change.”

By 1999, Angelle was well on her way to her goal of claiming the national championship, but fell only eight points shy of that goal, finishing an impressive secon

d in the final standings. Carrying this momentum in the 2000 season, Angelle earned her first NHRA World Championship crown by leading her category in wins, final rounds, and being the number-one qualifier. Angelle became only the second 

woman in history to claim an NHRA world title, joining Shirley Muldowney.

Angelle' s winning ways did not stop in 2001, as she once again secured the NHRA crown by collecting a remarkable 22 victories, breaking an NHRA record and becoming the winningest female in drag racing history. By 2002, Angelle had already accomplished more than most thought possible, but th

at didn't stop her. She once again took home the NHRA crown, making her only the second rider to win three consecutive 

world titles and tying Shirley Muldowney for most titles won by a female competitor.

Midway through the 2003 season, Angelle joined Don Schumacher Racing and partnered with the U.S. Army. By season's end Angelle had finished second in the points standings by winning three races and capturing three number one qualifying positions.

In 2004, Angelle ended her season by collecting her 35th career victory and moving into second in the final standings. She recorded four victories during the season, the most wins for the season in the Pro Stock Bike class.

The 2005 season turned out to be a rough one for the U.S. Army bikes. Angelle finished the season third in the points standings with two victories during the season.

Completeing her 10th season as a professional NHRA racer, Angelle's season began with much enthusiasm as she lead the points for six of the first seven weeks. She finished in a respectful but disappointing third in the championship standings. The season did earn her three victories bringing her career total to 40 wins, the most by any female driver in any motorsports history. At Maple Grove Raceway, she broke the national elapsed Time (E.T.) record with at 6.939 second run.