There’s nothing like familiar surroundings to help turn a season around.
Since setting the national elapsed time record in Pro Stock Motorcycle’s season-opening Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway in March, Karen Stoffer and her GEICO Powersports Suzuki teammates have been dealing with a motorcycle that just doesn’t want to cooperate.
This weekend, the group heads to Old Bridge Township Raceway Park for the 41st annual NHRA SuperNationals, where Stoffer has two runner-up finishes. They are hoping for a breakout event and think Old Bridge is the perfect place to get things started.
“We need to make a big move real quick,” Stoffer said. “We’re falling farther and farther back, and we want to make sure we stay in the Countdown. I’d love to get the ball rolling this weekend.”
Right now Stoffer sits on the playoff bump spot, a slender 18 points ahead of 11th-place Shawn Gann.
“We’re not going to rest until we start leaving the starting line green and straight every round,” Stoffer said. “That’s the goal right now.
“You never know what kind of air you are going to get in Englishtown. It can be great or it can be real hot. We haven’t been able to get a lot of data with this new engine combination, but I’m confident we’ll be able to tune the bike to whatever conditions come our way.”
One thing Stoffer can count on is the incredible backing she’ll get from the Northeast fans.
“A lot of the credit to the fan support we get in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class goes to Eddie Krawiec,” Stoffer said. “He was the manager there for years and now he’s on a Pro Stock Bike, so people there know all about our class and they love what we do.
“The bikes are well received everywhere we go, but Englishtown, Reading, and Sonoma are the places where it’s just over the top with support. Of course, we love that.”