Stoffer climbs to fifth in POWERade points By: Jack Korpela GEICO-backed NHRA POWERade Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Karen Stoffer enjoyed a breakout performance at this past weekend’s NHRA Summit Southern Nationals from Atlanta, GA. Stoffer advanced to the semifinals in the hotly-contested class, thus propelling her from No. 9 to No. 5 in the points series. “We feel really good about our performance,” Stoffer said. “Atlanta has always been a difficult track for us. It’s been really hard for us to find any consistency here. This is definitely our best showing. I’m very proud of the team.” Stoffer began the event just had she had hoped – with a quick enough run to qualify her on the top half of the ladder. Stoffer ran 7.10 at 184 mph to qualify fourth, just two hundredths of a second behind the leader. “Qualifying is where we really made strides,” Stoffer said. “We’ve said all along that it is so important for us to be on the top-half with how tough the competition is out here.” On race day Stoffer defeated Joe DeSantis in round No. 1 with a 7.10 to DeSantis 7.12. Stoffer went on to beat 2003 season champion Geno Scali in round No. 2 with a 7.11 to Scali’s 7.24. Stoffer was poised and ready for a trip to the finals after cutting a stellar .005 reaction time against Antron Brown in the semis. However Stoffer encountered mechanical problems off the starting line and slowed to a 14.84, as eventual event champ Brown took the win with a 7.06. “I can’t complain, we had a great weekend,” Stoffer said. “It was really nice to have some of our sponsors out here with us this weekend. Kirk from GEICO was here and so was John from General Electric.” Stoffer now trails points leader Antron Brown by 112 points heading into the tour’s next race in Columbus, OH, May 18-21. Stoffer extended a special thanks to all of the 2006 sponsors. Geico Motorcycle Insurance 1-866-326-2036, Mac Tools, Bates Leathers, NGK, Airtech, Wrath Motorsports, Square One Graphics, and Vance and Hines Motorsports.