STOFFER, CREW CHIEF KULUNGIAN CLICKING EARLY IN SEASON FOR NO. 1 BIKE POSITION

Written by Susan Wade    Sun, 2019-04-28 08:00

 

White Alligator Racing team crew chief Tim Kulungian is a laid-back, rather quiet – but sharp – fellow. He’s smart about the tune-ups he has provided for boss Jerry Savoie and former team member L.E. Tonglet.

And his low-key manner has proven compatible with newest Pro Stock Motorcycle colleague Karen Stoffer.

All he had to do Saturday during qualifying for the NGK Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at Concord, N.C., was stroll past Stoffer, flash her the thumbs-up sign, and assure her, “I got ya.”

“And that’s all I needed to know,” Stoffer said after securing her first No. 1 starting position in nearly four years, since the May 2015 Atlanta race.

The Suzuki rider grabbed the fourth top-qualifier spot of her career – and first of the season for the W.A.R. team – with a 6.7-second elapsed time on the zMAX Dragway quarter-mile.

Stoffer, who swept the No. 1 slot in all three qualifying sessions, was the only bike racer to dip into the 6.7-second range, and it was the first time in her career she had done so.

“Pure happy” is how she described her emotions on the eve of eliminations. “You can tell by the grin,” she said, but she promised, “Tomorrow it’ll be serious.”

As she begins pursuit of her ninth victory, Stoffer will race in a quad against friend and quasi-partner Jimmy Underdahl (No. 16), Angelle Sampey (8), and Cory Reed (9).

“I think we’ll be fine going into tomorrow,” Stoffer said.

Her confidence comes from Kulungian’s ability to adjust to her size, as well as to the diverse conditions this weekend has thrown at crew chiefs in all classes. And it’s a special compliment to him, for Stoffer has raced her entire career before these four 2019 races with her husband Gary calling the tuning shots.

“All the tune-up coms from Tim,” Stoffer said. “Tim’s got a lot of data, both day and night, and I think he reached into the bag for the nighttime data [Friday] to get us to that first low E.T. that we had.

“He’s still a little bit challenged with my weight, having a lighter rider,” she said.

Stoffer is the smallest of the three W.A.R. riders Kulungian has prepped bikes for. She is listed at five-feet-six-inches tall at 115 pounds – significantly lighter than 5-10, 150-pound Savoie and still 20 pounds lighter than lanky Tonglet (5-11, 135).

“But he was able to turn that around and give one of our best 60-foot [incremental times] we’ve had to date together as a team. And I think that parlayed us into that .79. So I think he’s got the tune-up now for me as a light rider. He’s got a lot of data now,” she said.

Stoffer didn’t have a lock on the No. 1 spot all day Saturday. She came back from as far back as seventh place to regain the lead.

“Honestly, I didn’t even know where I was [in the order]” leading up to her final push, she said. “With the quads and everything going so fast, I didn’t know I had fallen to seventh. I knew that [No. 1] position had gone away. I was watching the numbers, but I didn’t know what position I was in.”

Stoffer indicated she knows taking home a Wally trophy will require steady concentration, particularly at the starting line. Staging, she said, is “the most critical part. Sometimes it’s a little confusing.” She said because Pro Stock Motorcycle racers are “living and dying on the [Christmas] Tree” and because “many races are won on reaction times,” she will have to be attentive when it’s time to light the staging bulb Sunday.

“You’re normally looking at your staging beams on your own side and your right to the blub you want to leave off of. When the four-wide comes along, if you’re in lanes 2 or 3, you have to look across the tree for your pre-stage and then come back to your light to actually leave the starting line. Then if you kind of get distracted and you might be look at somebody else’s light, thinking it’s yours, it completely changes the staging process. That’s probably the most challenging thing. Other than that, it’s probably one of the most exciting races,” Stoffer said.

The weekend so far has been exciting, especially leading the field, she said: “It’s pretty big for me. It’s been a pretty long time for me. It’s been huge. It was a [career-best] for me, E.T.-wise. And to gain that [top spot] and get that green hat [excusive to top qualifiers] at the end of qualifying was pretty huge.”

The Harley-Davidson tandem of Eddie Krawiec and Andrew Hines led in speed at more than 199 mph. Krawiec, who took the No. 4 starting position, ran 199.17 mph, and No. 3 Hines posted a 199.05.

 

 

 
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