VOL. 52 ISSUE 27 JUNE 7, 2015 P39
LADIES' DAY
I
n NHRA's second all-female Pro Stock Motor-
cycle final, Karen Stoffer defeated Star Racing
Buell's Angelle Sampey to win the Summit Racing
Equipment Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio. Stoffer,
the winner of the opening event in Gainesville,
grabbed her second title after Sampey red-lighted
in the final. Stoffer and Sampey first met in a final in
Reading, Pennsylvania in 2002 with the win going
to Sampey.
"Racing Angelle in a final for the first time since
2002 was interesting," Stoffer said. "We both
struggled here and we were paired up a couple of
times in qualifying. It was great to race her in the
final. I would have liked to have seen two green
lights but we all live and die by the Tree in this
class. We managed to get our tire hooked up and
we went down the track so I think we'd have been
in good shape no matter what."
Stoffer struggled in qualifying but put forth a
much better effort on race day where she de-
feated Matt Smith, Eddie Kraweic, LE Tonglet and
Sampey, four riders who each have at least one
World Championship on their résumé. Stoffer's
most impressive win came in the second round
when she defeated Krawiec's Screamin' Eagle
Harley-Davidson, 6.97 to 6.99.
"We struggled tremendously on Friday and Sat-
urday. It was like I was riding a different bike than
the one we put away in Englishtown. Last night,
Gary [Stoffer, husband and crew chief] said that
he threw the kitchen sink at it. He just said to go
out and have fun and that's what we did and we
turned on the win light four times today."
Racing on a very limited budget, Stoffer did not
plan to race in all of the NHRA Pro Stock Motor-
cycle events this season, but she's now got two
wins and has climbed to second in the Mello Yello
points standings.
"I certainly can't imagine the way this season
has gone," said Stoffer. "I'm still pinching myself
but we never planned how this season was going
to go. I didn't think I'd be here for a second. We
just wanted to put our best foot forward and to end
up wining that is icing on the cake. We're still on a
part-time schedule but this will help tremendously.
Every time you win a race it puts the needle in a
little deeper but we're still taking it race by race."
Kevin McKenna
Karen Stoffer
wins second
final of the year
at Englishtown.
