sessions scheduled for Friday
or Saturday. That meant the
qualifying order was established
according to last year's champi-
onship standings.
"That was sort of a collective
decision made by the riders and
NHRA," Stoffer said. "On Sat-
urday night, we knew the track
was cold and the temperature
was dropping. It was a very tricky
situation. We had a meeting and
sort of mutually agreed not to
run. Personally, I didn't say yes
or no. I let my crew chief [Tim
Kulungian] make the call."
That lack of track time did not
affect Stoffer in any way as she
hammered the record books
from start to finish. She opened
eliminations with a 6.682-sec-
ond run, easily breaking Andrew
Hines' longstanding 6.720
record. Stoffer actually im-
proved in the quarterfinals with a
6.665 that easily covered Eddie
Krawiec's 6.92-second run. This
is the first time that Stoffer has
held the Pro Stock Motorcycle
elapsed time record.
"This is the first time I've been
the first in anything out here,"
Stoffer said. "I wasn't the first
woman rider or the first to break
a barrier. It's something that's
really nice and will stand the test
of time."
Stoffer defeated her team
owner, Jerry Savoie in the semi-
finals before finishing the job
against Smith's Denso Buell. The
fact that there was an all-female
final wasn't significant since that
happens often in NHRA racing,
but Smith and Stoffer combined
to make the quickest side-by-
side run in the history of the
class, 6.700 to 6.723.
"It's so nice to come out
and put our Ray Skillman Auto
Group/Big St. Charles Suzuki in
the winner's circle," Stoffer said.
"We tried to improve in every
round, but I bobbled a little in the
semifinals. This win is for Jerry
and Tim [Kulungian] everyone on
the WAR [White Alligator Racing]
team."
The Pro Stock Motorcycle
class has a different look this
season as six-time world champ
Andrew Hines has stepped off
a bike to focus on his role as
a crew chief for the Vance &
Hines team. World champions
Matt Smith and Eddie Krawiec
have also returned to the Suzuki
brand, which has seen a resur-
gence since the arrival of the
new four-valve cylinder head last
year.
In Gainesville, Smith was
upset in round one by Lance
Bonham while Krawiec lost in
round two. Krawiec's teammate,
three-time world champion
Angelle Sampey, was also upset
in round one by Marc Ingwersen,
who earned his first-round win in
NHRA competition.
Angie Smith, the wife of five-
time champ Matt Smith, proved
that the Buell V-twin can still
be a competitive platform with
her quick string of runs that
included a personal best 6.723
in the final. Smith was also over
200-mph on all four runs during
eliminations.
Kevin McKenna
FINAL
1. Karen Stoffer (Suz)
2. Angie Smith (Bue)
VOLUME 58 ISSUE 11 MARCH 15, 2022 P53
Stoffer (far lane) went up against Angie Smith in the final.
