IN
THE
WIND
P26
STOFFER RETURNS WITH A VICTORY
K
aren Stoffer spent almost two years away from
the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, but
the popular veteran returned with a convincing
Pro Stock Motorcycle win at the season-opening
Amalie Gatornationals in Gainesville, Florida.
Stoffer, the 2007 Gainesville winner, rode her
Suzuki to a win against four-time NHRA series
champ Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson's Eddie
Krawiec in the final round. After an even start,
Krawiec appeared to hold a slight lead until his
bike fell silent with an apparent mechanical issue.
That allowed Stoffer to claim her 11th NHRA win
with a 6.90-second elapsed time at 195.11 mph.
"We were planning on making a comeback later
this season, but things fell together for us and we
decided to come here to the first race in Gaines-
ville and obviously I'm glad I did," Stoffer said.
"This track has always been one of my favorites.
We came down here with one engine so we had
to be careful, but at the same time, we didn't go
easy on anyone. At this level, you can't do that.
We ran the bike as hard as we could, but we also
paid extra close attention to everything so we
didn't hurt a lot of parts."
Stoffer beat defending Gainesville winner Steve
Johnson in round one and also scored round wins
against Victory Racing's Angie Smith and Clonex
Buell's Shawn Gann. Krawiec reached the final
following victories against Mike Berry, Lucas Oil
Buell's Hector Arana Sr., and Nitro Fish Suzuki's
LE Tonglet.
Low qualifier Matt Smith—who put his new
Victory Gunner into the top spot with a 6.867
elapsed time—was an early casualty when his
crew forgot to remove a shop towel from the top
of the engine before they fired it. Smith lost to his
wife, Angie. Number two qualifier Angelle Sampey
and reigning NHRA world champ Andrew Hines
also lost because of parts breakage in Gaines-
ville, the first of 16 NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle
events this season.
Kevin McKenna
Karen Stoffer's NHRA homecoming was celebrated with a win at the season opener in Florida.
