Karen Stoffer, a two-time winner this season, led the two-wheel class with a performance of 6.823 seconds at 196.36 mph on her BIG St. Charles Motorsports Suzuki after the first two of four rounds of qualifying for the 51st annual Auto Club NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, the final of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.
“We want to finish the season off strong,” Stoffer said. “We haven’t traditionally done that. It would be huge for us to do good at this final race and knock that gremlin off our back to finish strong here late in the season. We had a safe run on that first one to get down the track and make sure our brakes work well. We were able to do it on the second hit when we ran the full quarter-mile. I don’t think it will hold. This class is so competitive. The track stayed consistent. Tomorrow is going to be better. There is a little more out there. That 82 isn’t the best we can do. Hopefully we can step it up and meet everybody. If I could win this race this weekend it would truly be a dream season for me.”
The three Pro Stock Motorcycle championship contenders all qualified in the top half of the field, with series leader Andrew Hines in fifth, second place Jerry Savoie fourth and third-place Eddie Krawiec eighth. Savoie, who earned one qualifying bonus point for his third-place effort in round one, trails Hines by 45 points. Krawiec is 83 back.
Chip Ellis qualified second on his PiranaZ Buell with a 6.830 at 196.42 and defending event winner Hector Arana Jr. is third on his Lucas Oil Buell with a 6.833 at 197.57.
Qualifying continues Saturday with sessions at noon and 3 p.m. Sunday’s eliminations are scheduled for 11 a.m.
Pro Stock Motorcycle — 1. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 6.823, 196.36; 2. Chip Ellis, Buell, 6.830, 196.44; 3. Hector Arana Jr, Buell, 6.833, 197.57; 4. Jerry Savoie, Suzuki, 6.836, 196.67; 5. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.837, 195.73; 6. LE Tonglet, Suzuki, 6.853, 196.47; 7. Matt Smith, Victory, 6.855, 195.90; 8. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.858, 195.99; 9. Scotty Pollacheck, Buell, 6.878, 194.88; 10. Michael Ray, Buell, 6.915, 192.28; 11. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.917, 193.88; 12. Angie Smith, Victory, 6.919, 192.14. Not Qualified: 13. Hector Arana, 6.926, 195.25; 14. Mike Berry, 6.951, 190.83; 15. Shawn Gann, 6.960, 192.41; 16. Jim Underdahl, 6.961, 194.55; 17. Freddie Camarena, 6.962, 194.80; 18. Kalle Lyren, 6.983, 191.02; 19. Joe DeSantis, 6.985, 192.11; 20. Redell Harris, 6.994, 190.57; 21. Katie Sullivan, 6.998, 190.22; 22. Robert Karlsson, 7.021, 191.95; 23. Luke Crowley, 7.027, 193.27; 24. Rhett Lougheed, 7.138, 187.94; 25. Eddie Reed, 7.229, 188.54; 26. Lance Bonham, 7.368, 183.92; 27. Bill Burkhart, 7.459, 179.25; 28. Melissa Surber, 18.068, 41.90.
