STOFFER STICKS WITH BIKE RACING, REELS OFF RECORDS, WINS THIRD GATORNATIONALS TROPHY
by Susan Wade; photos by Roger Richards Mon, 2022-03-14 18:45
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Karen Stoffer had been on the verge of stepping back from NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle competition at the end of last season. Her mind was gravitating to “other life things that are going on,” as she put it after winning Sunday’s Amalie Oil Gatornationals for the third time.
But back in November, her sponsors certainly hated to waste all the momentum she and crew chief Tim Kulungian and Jerry Savoie’s White Alligator Racing Suzuki team had built heading into the winter break. Same for her husband, Gary Stoffer, who years ago when they were first dating saw a spark of greatness in her and orchestrated her pathway through 10 Pro Stock Motorcycle victories and more importantly a lifestyle of togetherness, purpose, and an even bigger family of friends in what’s now the Camping World Drag Racing Series. So they tried to persuade her to come back out and compete. “It was a last-minute decision,” she said, sharing that she had a Jan. 1 deadline to decide and made the call to everyone involved Dec. 31. She said, “I do” once again to her husband. “And here I am,” she said happily.
Her supporters’ faith in her was not unfounded.
Karen Stoffer is the proud new owner of the top two - and four of the top five – quickest passes in NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle history, along with her 11th Wally trophy and third from Gainesville Raceway, a place she calls “her second home track.”
Before facing Angie Smith in the final round or even Savoie in the semifinals, Stoffer had recorded the quickest run ever in her class at 6.682 seconds (at 198.70 mph), then lowered that with a 6.665-second elapsed time (at 200.71 mph).
She completed her day by defeating Smith with a 6.700-second, 200.77-mph performance. Smith registered her best pass of the weekend – 6.723, 201.28 – on her Denso/Stockseth/Matt Smith Racing Buell, but she fell about nine feet short at the finish line in their first final-round meeting.
Stoffer said she’s glad she and Gary made the decision to continue. She said, “Maybe this was a sign from the Good Lord that ‘Hey, it’s the right decision to be out here.’ That’s how I’m going to take it.”
With a Suzuki that was virtually the same as it was when they stowed it last fall, save for some minor tweaks, Stoffer was able to capitalize on her fourth straight final round. Dating back to the October Bristol, Tenn., event, Stoffer came up empty in the finals there and at Las Vegas and Pomona.
And she, as well as observers of the class, wondered if she would keep her momentum from late 2021.
“This solidifies that you can step off a winning bike and wait a full off-season, then step right back on and get up there again,” Stoffer said. “The engine program is working good. The tuning’s good with Tim, and I’m riding well.”
Furthermore, she prevailed with no qualifying chances all weekend because of relentless rain and then plummeting temperatures that for safety reasons caused NHRA officials and most racers to agree to set the field on last season’s final standings.
“So we came out of the box today [Sunday] and threw down a 6.68, which is hat’s off to Tim and Jerry. It was a tuner’s race, and Tim’s good about figuring it out,” she said, “as well as all the work that [crew members] Harvey and Keith do. They put that Ray Skillman[-sponsored] bike out there in front of everybody, and it was phenomenal.
“And then to back it up with a 6.66 . . . I think we could have gotten a little more out of it. I kind of bobbled it. We might have had a little bit more,” she said.
The first-round run, she said she knew, was going to be a strong one but that she didn’t peg it for a record-setter.
“When you’re going down the racetrack, the smoother it is, the faster it is. It felt really smooth. It wasn’t pulling hard. It was a smooth, consistent pull. I didn’t know it was going to be that good,” Stoffer said. “Tim said it was out there, but I didn’t know it was going to be on my bike. It was my first time down the racetrack [this year].
“I’ve never in the NHRA – and I’ve been a longtime member from way back when – been the first in anything. I wasn’t the first female. I wasn’t the first 200-mile-an-hour [bike racer]. I wasn’t the first ‘six’ [racer in the six-second range]. So to get this here, that’s huge to me.” She told her White Alligator Racing (W.A.R.) team, including boss Jerry Savoie whom she beat in the semifinal, “It’s all about you.”
What helped all weekend was that Stoffer said she felt like she was in her cocoon. The Gardnerville, Nev., resident who identifies with nearby Sonoma Raceway, said, “Gainesville is like my second home track. My first big team owner, with Geico, lived here. We spent a lot of time here. We spent a lot of time at this racetrack. I really feel comfortable here, even with the weather conditions.
“The whole package,” Stoffer said, referring to her achievements in a productive day by anyone’s accounts, “is definitely a dream come true.” However, she said, the impact of it likely won’t sink in until she relaxes in her airplane seat for the trip home.
In just a little more than a month, she’ll be flying out again, heading to meet her competitors at Baytown, Texas, for the final hurrah at Houston Raceway Park at the April 22-24 NHRA SpringNationals. But when she rolls in, she’ll be the points leader once again. (The Pro Stock Motorcycle class will not race at the early-April 4-Wide Nationals at Las Vegas.)
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