BAYTOWN, Tex., (Army News Service, April 2, 2007) - U.S. Army Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Angelle Sampey captured her first race of the 2007 season yesterday in the O'Reilly Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park.

For Sampey, who set the national elapsed time record two weeks ago in Gainesville, Fla., this was her second straight O'Reilly Spring Nationals event title.

"And, it feels great," said an elated Sampey after beating Craig Treble in the finals with a 7.046-second pass at 188.91 mph. "Of course, any time we win it's for all our Soldiers. If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't be doing this."

Coming out of the second starting spot, Sampey had to take care of Shawn Gann, Peggy Llewellyn and Tom Bradford before meeting Treble.

"It's never easy winning these races," she added. "I'm just happy for the entire U.S. Army team today. They really worked their butts off."

With her 41st career victory, Sampey also moved closer to passing the late Dave Schultz on the all-time Pro Stock Motorcycle victory list. She needs five more wins to take the lead.

Sampey's fellow Army motorcyclist, Antron Brown, recorded a red light foul in a second round loss.

<b>Top Fuel</b>

Tony "The Sarge" Schumacher lost a close first round match up with Brandon Bernstein.

Schumacher, who had qualified fifth, posted a quicker 4.540-second pass than Brandon Bernstein's 4.553-second run in the opening round, but Bernstein was first off the line, .034-seconds to Schumacher's .065-seconds, and subsequently, first at the finish line.

"That's a tough one," said a disappointed Schumacher afterward. "I thought my reaction time to the green light was pretty good, but he was clearly a lot better. You have to tip your hat to his team."

Schumacher was seeking his second straight victory after capturing the ACDelco Gatornationals two weeks ago.

"It's a battle every weekend in this series," he added. "Like I've said before, you better bring your best effort to the track on race day if you want to win. We'll just pick up from here and move forward. Failure is never an option for this U.S. Army team."

Schumacher will next head for The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, April 12-15, for the SummitRacing.com Nationals, while Sampey and Brown will wait to join Schumacher at the Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway, April 26-29, in Commerce, Ga.