IN
THE
WIND
P40
Stoffer Scores Sonoma NHRA Victory
A
t the previous NHRA round
in Denver, Karen Stoffer cel-
ebrated her 25th anniversary in
the Pro Stock Motorcycle class.
A week later, the Big St. Charles
Suzuki rider had a proper cele-
bration when she won the NHRA
Sonoma Nationals, July 23-25.
Racing through what was easily
one of the fastest fields in the his-
tory of the sport, Stoffer knocked
out six-time World Champion
Andrew Hines in the final round to
secure the 10th win of her career.
Throughout her career, Stoffer
has longed to win in Sonoma,
since she raced there often as
an amateur and considers it her
home track.
"Winning in Sonoma is defi-
nitely on my bucket list," Stoffer
said. "I kind of call it my home
race because I raced NHRA's
[Pacific Division] for so long, and
I was a Division Champion. This
is definitely a moment I will always
remember."
In the final round, Stoffer
figured to have her hands full
against Hines and the Vance &
Hines Buell, but she was able to
make one of the best runs of her
career on Jerry Savoie's White
Alligator Suzuki and came away
with the win. Stoffer's 6.798
elapsed time was just enough
to hold off Hines' 6.800. For
Stoffer, the win was the 10th of
her career and her first since the
2019 St. Louis round, where she
also beat Hines in the final.
Stoffer, who entered the event
as the number-nine ranked rider
in the class, also scored wins
against Scott Bottorff, Reed Rac-
ing Suzuki's Joey Gladstone, and
her teammate, WAR Suzuki's Jerry
Savoie to reach the final round.
Stoffer's riding was also superb
with a pair of nearly perfect reac-
tion times off the starting line.
Hines went to the final round
for the 99th time in his career
and first this season thanks to
wins against Ryan Oehler, points
leader and defending World
Champ Matt Smith, and Cory
Reed. Before the final, Hines was
quicker than Stoffer with three
runs between 6.755 and 6.769.
Hines also ran over 200-mph
on all four runs in eliminations,
something that Stoffer has yet to
do in her career.
Championship leader Matt
Smith and his wife, Angie, didn't
win in Sonoma, but they each
made headlines during qualify-
ing. Angie rode her Denso Buell
to the top spot in qualifying for
the first time in her career with a
personal best 6.736 elapsed time
that also held as the quickest run
of the event. Not to be outdone,
Matt Smith rode to a 205.04 mph
speed, by far the quickest ever
recorded in the class. No other
rider has ever been faster than
203. During qualifying, six riders
topped 200 including Smith's
other teammate, Scotty Polla-
check. Race-winner Stoffer just
missed her first 200-mph pass
with a 199.76-mph top speed.
Kevin McKenna
FINAL
1. Karen Stoffer (Suz)
2. Andrew Hines (Bue)
Karen Stoffer won the Sonoma NHRA Pro Stock
Motorcycle final after going up against Andrew Hines. It
was the 10th win of her 25-year career.
PHOTOS: MATT POLITO
