Points leader Karen Stoffer collects runner-up result, just .0002 seconds away from a win

ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. (June 5) – Another day, another trip to the money round for Karen Stoffer and the GEICO Suzuki.

Stoffer finished as runner-up at Sunday’s 42nd annual NHRA SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, her third runner-up result of the season, and extended her lead in the Full Throttle Pro Stock Motorcycle points.

“I’m not looking at points right now,” Stoffer said. “I’m just looking at how consistent the bike can be. You look at our ETs and you look at the bike going straight. Whatever outcome we get because of that, we’re going to get.”

The only thing Stoffer didn’t get in E-town was a better light than opponent Matt Smith in the final, losing on a miniscule holeshot. Smith got a slight advantage at the line (a .023-second reaction time to a .035 by Stoffer) but his elapsed time was slower than Stoffer’s as he ran a 6.900 second lap at 191.73 mph to Stoffer’s 6.889-second lap. The race was a dead heat to three decimal places but Smith ultimately took the victory by .0002 seconds, or about one inch.

“I really didn’t have a bad light,” Stoffer said. “It was where we wanted to be and where we put the bike. Consistency got us to that final and got us to where we are in points, so we weren’t going to go away from that.

“I’m sure Matt saw me, because I saw him the whole way down. I was getting tucked in as far as I can to scrub off the time. If we stick to this consistent game plan, maybe one of those pewter Wallys will come our way.”

On the way to the final, Stoffer defeated GT Tonglet, Michael Phillips, and Gerald Savoie with ETs that were either first or second quickest in each round.

She now leads the Pro Stock Motorcycle standings by 43 points over Andrew Hines.

Stoffer’s GEICO teammate Morgan Lucas reached the second round in Top Fuel for the second time in the last seven races.

“We made four out of six runs down the track, which is a good improvement,” Lucas said. “We’re going the right direction with the car. We’ve got to get a little more ET and speed out of the car, but that will come in time.”

In Round 1, Lucas and the GEICO/Lucas Oil dragster ran a 3.870 second pass at 316.52 mph to beat teammate Shawn Langdon, who ran a 3.981 at 306.88 mph in the Lucas Oil/Speedco dragster.

“We won that round legitimately,” he said. “We didn’t do it in a pedaling contest or anything.”

In the second round, Lucas fell to eventual race winner Spencer Massey, who crossed the line in 3.807 seconds at 320.51 mph against Lucas’ 4.507 at 175.82 mph run.

“Spencer has a good car and we knew we had to go for it,” Lucas said. “We just didn’t hang on tough enough. However we made it farther down that lane than anybody else that session.”

Up next on the NHRA Full Throttle Series schedule is the June 17-19 Ford Thunder Valley Nationals from Bristol Dragway.

–30–

Contact: Geiger Media at 832-971-9345 or rob@go2geiger.com.

Please visit www.geicogarage.com for more information.

GEICO’s KAREN STOFFER STAYS THIRD WITH STRONG SEMIIFINAL RUN IN HOUSTON; LUCAS GOING ROUNDS

HOUSTON (May 1) – Karen Stoffer is having such a good time racing the GEICO Suzuki, it’s almost like 2010 never happened.

“It’s so much fun to ride right now,” Stoffer said. “I want to race it as much as I can every weekend. It feels like more than a whole new year, it feels like a whole new life.

“It’s a 180 degree turnaround from what was going on last year. The bike and I are in sync better than ever and I’m enjoying it immensely.”

Stoffer reached the semifinals of the 24th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Spring Nationals on Sunday, marking the second straight race she’s won at least two elimination rounds. It’s a far cry from her 2010 season, which saw more gnashed teeth than smiles.

“We’ve started the year with back-to-back consistent races,” Stoffer said. “We just had one issue where we had to abort one qualifying run; that’s it. We’re trying for consistency this year and we’ve accomplished it so far.”

Morgan Lucas, Stoffer’s GEICO teammate, reached the second round of Top Fuel eliminations for the first time since his victory in the season opener.

Stoffer had one of the fastest bikes on the property all weekend. She qualified No. 2 and easily beat Angie Smith in the first round before following it up with a victory over Shawn Gann.

However, Stoffer and her crew could see that the performance was slipping just a touch with each passing round.

“It’s not the direction you want to go on elimination day,” she said. “You want to get faster and faster. It bit us in the end.”

In the first round, Stoffer ran a 6.880 second pass at 196.62 mph to win by almost .2 seconds over Smith and claim low ET of the round. In the second, she ran a 6.904 at 195.73 which beat Gann’s 6.975 at 190.54 mph.

In the semifinals against eventual race winner Andrew Hines, the lag caught up to the GEICO Suzuki. Stoffer got off the line first but could only muster a 6.974 at 195.59 mph lap, which wasn’t enough to stay ahead of Hines, who ran a 6.888 at 195.70 mph.

“We still had a good, consistent bike, it was just a little off on the tuneup,” Stoffer said. “We spun the rear tire pretty hard against Andrew.

“We are still feeling good and we’re looking forward to another strong outing in Atlanta.”

Lucas had a wild ride in the GEICO/Lucas Oil dragster in his first round win over Terry McMillen before a clutch issue proved to be his undoing in against quarterfinal foe Tony Schumacher.

Lucas and McMillen were the first pair out on a track that was unpredictable at best. The pair put on a show for the fans as they smoked, pedaled and weaved their way down the track. Lucas won on the most unlikeliest of hole shots. McMillen’s 5.530 second pass at 146.93 mph was quicker than Lucas’ 5.624 at 177.56 mph, but Lucas’ .074 second reaction time was more than enough of cushion against McMillen’s .348 reaction.

“We just shook the tires loose,” Lucas said. “The track was way better than it had been all weekend. We just underestimated it a little bit.

“We learned a lot all weekend. We went down three out of four runs in qualifying, it’s testimony to the progress we made in testing.”

In the second round, Schumacher sailed down with a 3.991 second pass at 298.93 mph was too much for Lucas’ wounded dragster, which ran a 4.938 at 157.65 mph.

“Losing still stinks, but we’re happy to get that first round loss monkey off our back,” Lucas said. “We’re going to get out of here with our heads held high and look forward to our next race.”

Up next for both Lucas and Stoffer is the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals May 13-15 from Atlanta Dragway.

–30–

Contact: Geiger Media at 832-971-9345 or rob@go2geiger.com.

Please visit www.geicogarage.com for more information