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,, NHRA Pow'erAde Drag Racing Series Round B National Trail Raceway Collis climbs to the top of the ladder in Columbus BY KEVIN McKENNA PHOTOS BY RICHARD WONG COLaMBas, OH, JaNE 12-15 t took all of 11 starts in NHRA competition for Fred Collis to claim his first Pro Stock Bike win, but the prevailing sentiment after Collis clobbered the field at the Pontiac Excitement Nationals in Columbus was, "What took you so long?" Collis, a two-time AMA Pro Star Pro Stock champ, arrived on the NHRA tour this year amid much hype and fanfare. The Area 51 Motorsports Suzuki TLI 000 that Collis rides is the same Star Racing bike that carried Angelle Savoie to six wins, the series championship, and a national-record 7.04 elapsed time in 2002. He also has veteran Star Racing crew chief Ken Johnson in his corner. With so much firepower, Collis expected to be a title contender in his first full season on the tour, but a series of mishaps,. including three red-light starts in the season's first five races, tempered his expectations. Collis silenced his critics in Columbus with a convincing performance highlighted by a final-round victory over Jonco Motorsports' Karen Stoffer, a rider who, like Collis, entered the event seeking her first-career NHRA victory. I 56 JULY 9. 2003' eye I e "The problems I've had this year have been mostly mental," Collis said. "I let the person in the other lane get in my head some. I'd like to deny it and tell you I was just running my own race, but in reality, I was letting my opponent affect me. The first several races were really frustrating. We qualified well, but I've had some trouble with the new LED [Christmas Tree] lights, and we just never seemed to get a break." In Columbus, where a combination of hot and humid weather and persistent rain showers made finding a proper tune-up a challenging task for everyone, no one performed better than Collis and crew chief Johnson, who qualified on top of the 16-bike field with a pair of 7.19 runs. Collis was equally as consistent on race day, as he powered through the first two rounds with consecutive 7.20 runs against Joe DeSantis and Matco Tools' Craig Treble, who could only muster a 7.29. Facing points leader Geno Scali's Trim-Tex Suzuki in the semifinals, Collis had an almost-perfect reaction time and held on for the win with a 7.23, despite Scali's quicker 7.22. "Today, I pretended like I was here by myself and that we were just making test runs," Collis said. "I tried to cut a good light, go straight and n e vv s (Above) Competing in just his 11 th race on the NHRA PowerAde tour, Fred Collis (near lane) delivered his first win with a finalround victory over Karen Stoffer's Janco Motorsports Suzuki (far lane) in Columbus. Collis won the race after Stoffer red-lighted. (Right) Collis, a former AMA Pro Star champ and an instructor at Frank Hawley's Drag Racing School, fulfilled many expectations when he claimed his first NHRA National event title. make good shifts, and that's what I where three-time champ Savoie did. It was just a matter of getting made her first appearance on a Pro everything right. I hope we can hold Stock Bike. However, unlike Savoie, on to that." Stoffer didn't land a full-time ride Stoffer made her professional until 2002. After a runner-up finish debut in 1996, at the same event last year in Reading, she made the