MY THREE RACERS

--Daily Press--
BY KATHY VAN MULLEKOM

Date:April 23, 2005

HAMPTON -- When it comes to daydreaming and planning weekend fun, Doug Sample and his three sons think along the same track. They're always plotting how they can win their next race at Langley Speedway in Hampton. As members of the Hampton Roads Kart Club, they compete in the Go-Kart and Mini-Cup, or miniature car, categories. They also drive the No. 28, or a 1990, 4-cylinder Ford Probe in Langley Speedway's EZ Auto Rental U-Car class. It's time the foursome values together, whether they're fixing a bruised bumper on the Probe or looking at ways to juice up the go-kart. "I would say that racing is the best thing in the world for spending quality time with my dad," says Jamie, 19, a freshman at Virginia Tech.

The family races April through October, something they've done for nine years. Even though college keeps Jamie in Blacksburg most months, he manages to come home many weekends to get his fix. Randy, 16, is a junior at Hampton Roads Academy in Newport News; Nicholas, 10, attends Gloria Dei Lutheran School in Hampton. "Even when it's not race day, we spend time together getting the cars ready to race," says Jamie. "Dad is the soul of the team, keeps us going, and he bears the financial burden as well. Racing isn't cheap. I really look up to him because he puts his own wants aside to give me and my brothers a chance to do what we love." He's right in saying racing isn't cheap. Dad, an engineering manager with Northrop Grumman Newport News shipyard, recently paid $2,800 for a new go-kart for Nicholas. And it took only 15 laps around the track to ruin the rubber on the front right tire of the Probe, meaning another $40 for a replacement tire. But, Dad, 45, doesn't mind the costs because the hobby keeps his kids close to his side. Plus, he's a member of the Mustang Club of Tidewater, and has loved cars ever since he was in high school. Even today, he works on vintage Mustangs, and just splurged on a deep-blue, hardtop version of the 2005 retro-looking Mustang. "I've always been a car guy," he says. "As a teenager, a friend and I used to drag race a beat-up Camaro in Suffolk."

Randy sees racing as a possible path to his future, hoping one day to venture into the marketing side of NASCAR events, he says. He's won three championships with one of the two family's Mini-Cup cars, which is a half-scale replica of a stock car. Built with a Monte Carlo fiberglass body and racing harness-type interior, a Mini-Cup car weighs about 650 pounds, will do about 75 miles per hour, and is powered by a 13-horsepower Honda engine. To get in the car, you slide through a lift-up door in the roof. The car costs about $3,500. Jamie races the other Mini-Cup, a Taurus, when he's home from school. "It has a gas engine that's like a generator," says Dad of the motor in a Mini-Cup. "As long as we don't tear it up, there's little maintenance to this car." For now, Randy concentrates on securing some wins in the Probe. A U-Car racer must be at least 14 years old, and can only drive a 4-cylinder, American-made car with an engine and suspension that has not been modified. The GEO Storm and Saturn also fall into this classification. Jamie and Randy share the driving duties for the Probe. "It's very basic racing, not souped-up," says Dad. "You take a street car, take out the glass and interior and put in a full roll cage and racing seat bolted to the frame." In straight stretches of the track, which is four-tenths of a miles in length, the Probe will do 85 to 90 mph. Lap times are about 20 seconds, which equates to more than 70 mph, says Dad. Turns are where it gets tricky, because you want to reduce your speed so the rear end just fishtails, says Randy. Plus, if you take a turn too tight, you put too much pressure on tire rubber, meaning you're spending another $40 before going out on the track again. "The car kind of does what it wants to," says Randy, who is still learning how to handle the Probe. It's the first season the family has owned the vehicle, which won championships with its previous owner. "The skill is, at one point, you want to take your foot off the gas and let the car start the turn and then push back on the gas to get it going again," says Dad. "If the front of the car slides through the turn, it's like pushing a rock."

Young Nicholas likes racing because he says it feels like he's in a jet, especially when he's strapped into his go-kart, going 50 mph around a small track that's shaped like an oval and measures two-tenths of a mile. Last year, he won all but two of his club's Junior 1 class races. Nicholas is ready to graduate into the Mini-Cup, but Dad says he isn't ready for that yet. "I am," quips Nicholas. "He's got the fire," admits Dad. "The other day he told me, 'We've got to do something to the go-kart. You've got to make it go faster.' " In fact, it's hard to tell which one of them is most passionate about racing. Nicholas is all over the cars when a visitor stops by to chat with the family. He tries to crank up the Probe, which for some reason won't start, says Dad. Nicholas then climbs into the Mini-Cup car and makes like he's racing. And, when he can't be home with his father and brothers, Jamie is always calling or e-mailing to see what they're doing to the cars or how the races are going. "I tried to get back with him the other day after he had been calling, and where is he? At a race in Pulaski," says Dad. «

Racing info

The Hampton Roads Kart Club, or HRKC, races through Nov. 20 at Langley Speedway, 3416 N. Armistead Ave., Hampton. Langley Speedway's EZ Auto Rental U-Car class races will be held April 30, May 7 and 28, Saturdays in June and July except June 18 and July 9; Aug. 6 and 20, Sept. 3 and 17 and Oct. 1. HRKC's Affordable Marine Service Mini-Cup class will race on three Saturday nights - June 18, July 9 and Sept. 24 - with Langley's other car classes. For times, visit the kart club online at hrkc.com or call 249-5278; Langley Speedway at Langley- Speedway.com or call 865-RACE (7223).

Visit the Sample brothers and their JRN Racing site at jrn racing.com Randy Sample dedicates this racing season to the memory of Dale Lemonds, a championship driver who crashed and died last August, and in honor of the Lemonds family; his wife Sandy Lemonds is the new president at Langley Speedway. The Sample brothers' racing sponsors are Hillco Building Maintenance, Pomoco Auto Group, Clothing Care, Affordable Marine Service, Wilbert's Upholstery, Mike's Surf Shop, Absolute Chem Dry, Guaranteed Auto Service and Peninsula Painting. «