Posted on October 4, 2007

The Grass Roots - Altered Dragster Driver Samantha Neild loving life in the fast lane

by Chris Corter About The Author	Email   Print

Just Seventeen years old, 11^th grader Samantha Neild of Jensen Beach, Florida was dubbed “Blonde Ambition” years ago because of her long blonde hair and unwavering determination in her chosen sport of drag racing. She looks danger in the face, quite literally, and pushes her car and herself to new limits in her new “engine in front” dragster.

Nitro fumes are making Samantha’s eyes water, while butterflies are doing the funky chicken in her stomach; and all just before Samantha gets ready to do her burnout. She gets the signal and “mashes” the throttle down as far as it will go. The 800 horsepower engine burns the tires through the water box until the car catches grip on the track. Samantha is feeling good about the burnout and pulls the car through the first set of beams, pre-staged and ready to make her run. The car is vibrating, she feels it in her lungs and Samantha’s hands are starting to go numb. The entire car is shaking, her body is shaking, and she is now one with the car. The Christmas tree comes down and she forgets about breathing for the next 8 seconds as she is pushed back into her seat. The 5 point harness tightens against Samantha’s body and the wind does everything it can to pull her helmet right off her head. Sounds like some kind of wild carnival ride or to some their worst nightmare in freeway traffic, but this is where this young altered drag racer spends most of her time on any given Saturday.

Samantha has been racing for the past 7 years, since she was 10 years old. I asked her what got her started in racing, “My mom used to take me out to our local drag strip where we had a friend who raced. We would rush out every weekend to go see him race so I was really into it back then” Samantha told me. It was after Samantha’s mom got re-married that the opportunity to get into the driver seat presented itself. Her new step-dad did a bit of drag racing and the family went out and got a car. Samantha was then asked if she wanted to race Jr. Dragsters. “I was really into it (drag racing) when I was little, so when they asked me if I wanted to do it I said why not? I have never done any sports before and I have never won any trophies before, so why not?”

Samantha had never raced before she got in the seat of her Jr. Dragster, and had no real experience in driving anything before then. A Jr. Dragster can easily pull speeds of 85 MPH in the 1/8 mile, which is faster than most people would care to drive on the freeway. So for a young 10 year old with no racing experience Samantha jumped into the world of drag racing feet first

Seven years later, Samantha has won 14 trophies and one championship at the Pepsi Chevy Show at Moroso Motorsports Park in Jupiter, Florida. She was 5^th in points in 2004 and 3^rd in points in both 2005 and 2006 in her Jr. Dragster class. Samantha now drives a 1923T altered dragster. Unlike her Jr. Dragster, the altered has the motor in the front. This makes things really interesting when it comes to drag racing because it is, for obvious reasons, more dangerous. Running the 1/4 mile at her fastest to date of 8.40 seconds at 156 MPH with the motor in front is something Samantha likes to do. In fact she said she likes racing this way better than when the motor was behind her in her Jr. Dragster days. Samantha told me, “having the motor in the front, and since we are running nitro, the fumes get right in my face and make my eyes water up, which most definitely enhances the whole racing experience.” She is also completely aware of the fact that anything can happen and things could get really ugly, really quickly. A little bit of oil dropping down from the engine could cause a fire to break out or worse, make the car slip and head straight for the wall.

I asked Samantha what she thinks about before her runs, what goes through her mind. This is where she displayed a maturity level to me that was beyond her years in her response, “I want to get the job done right, get the car down the track safely and straight and if the car gets out of the groove on the track I have to get it back in. I want to go fast, but I also want to keep the car under control. The one thing that really goes through my mind is be prepared for anything.” I wanted to know more, so I asked Samantha to explain further about how she corrects when the car jumps out of the groove. She explained to me about an incident that just recently happened. Just as soon as Samantha shifted out of 1st gear into 2nd her car was headed straight toward the wall. “You have to let out of the throttle, don’t hit the breaks, steer it (the car) back in until you get it back in the middle of the track and if you can, ease back into the throttle.” As it turns out she got the car going straight again only to find herself now heading toward the right. She eventually got the car under control and coasted down the track to the finish line. Samantha never lost her composure during this event; she kept her head and saved her car and all in about 4 or 5 seconds of time. “You have to know what to do, and you have to know what to do quickly. I knew how to handle that kind of situation and nothing bad happened.” Good thing too, because while Samantha was explaining the whole thing, I felt the adrenaline rush just listing to her and dropped my pencil. Obviously, I would not make a good drag racer.

Samantha is more than just a driver. She knows how to take the motor apart and put it back together with no extra pieces lying around. Her step-dad and crew chief makes sure his driver understands that there is more to racing than going fast. So Samantha has taken the valve covers off and checked everything she can while at the track, and helped re-build her entire motor back at the shop. She is willing to do what ever is needed to keep the car running, and willing to learn what ever it is she needs to learn to keep her car competitive. Samantha knows how to communicate with her team. She can let them know if her car was screaming all the way down the track because the car did not sound like it was shifting. This is because, “the torque converter needed to be replaced” Samantha told me. I looked it up on line, because I had no idea what a torque converter was, where Samantha was able to “hear” the problem on the track. This is absolutely amazing to me.

The one thing Samantha was able to remind me of, is that she is still an average teenager who likes to go to the mall with her friends or just hang out at the beach or see a movie. She also has really supportive friends who want to go to the track and watch Samantha race when she is not traveling to other tracks, which is quite often. Even with all of the traveling and racing, Samantha is still doing exceptional in school. She was just honored by being inducted into the National Honor Society in 2006.

I concluded my interview by asking Samantha where she was going with her racing career, what her goals were. “I would really like to race Pro-Mod Dragsters.” These cars can travel up to 200 MPH, and have inter-changeable body types. It appeals to Samantha because as she puts it, “It is a really fun looking class of cars.” I asked about any possible NHRA racing in her future. As it turns out, a family friend is looking into possibly selling his front engine dragster and getting into a Funny Car. Samantha was asked what she would think about driving one of these types of cars. Her response of course, “I think it would pretty cool to drive one.”

Where ever Samantha’s racing takes her, be it racing Funny Cars in the NHRA or staying with the Pro-Mod Drags and going on tour you can be sure of one thing; Samantha will continue to look danger in the face, even if it makes her eyes tear up every now and then. Keep your eyes on this driver, because she is going places fast…

You can contact Chris at btwapparel@sbcglobal.net

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