Press Release | July 26, 2021
At the previous NHRA round in Denver, Karen Stoffer celebrated her 25th anniversary in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class. A week later, the Big St. Charles Suzuki rider had a proper celebration when she won the NHRA Sonoma Nationals, July 23-25. Racing through what was easily one of the fastest fields in the history of the sport, Stoffer knocked out six-time World Champion Andrew Hines in the final round to secure the 10th win of her career. Throughout her career, Stoffer has longed to win in Sonoma, since she raced there often as an amateur and considers it her home track.
Karen Stoffer capped off a resurgent weekend in Pro Stock Motorcycle, winning for the first time since 2019 by taking out Andrew Hines in the final round with a run of 6.798 at 197.36 on her Ray Skillman/Big St. Charles Suzuki.
Story by Kevin McKenna | Photos by Matt Polito
“Winning in Sonoma is definitely on my bucket list,” Stoffer said. “I kind of call it my home race because I raced NHRA’s [Pacific Division] for so long, and I was a Division Champion. This is definitely a moment I will always remember.”
In the final round, Stoffer figured to have her hands full against Hines and the Vance & Hines Buell, but she was able to make one of the best runs of her career on Jerry Savoie’s White Alligator Suzuki and came away with the win. Stoffer’s 6.798 elapsed time was just enough to hold off Hines’ 6.800. For Stoffer, the win was the 10th of her career and her first since the 2019 St. Louis round, where she also beat Hines in the final.
It was the 10th win of Stoffer’s 25-year career.
Stoffer, who entered the event as the number-nine ranked rider in the class, also scored wins against Scott Bottorff, Reed Racing Suzuki’s Joey Gladstone, and her teammate, WAR Suzuki’s Jerry Savoie to reach the final round. Stoffer’s riding was also superb with a pair of nearly perfect reaction times off the starting line.
Hines went to the final round for the 99th time in his career and first this season thanks to wins against Ryan Oehler, points leader and defending World Champ Matt Smith, and Cory Reed. Before the final, Hines was quicker than Stoffer with three runs between 6.755 and 6.769. Hines also ran over 200-mph on all four runs in eliminations, something that Stoffer has yet to do in her career.
VIDEO | Stoffer vs. Hines Pro Stock Motorcycle
Championship leader Matt Smith and his wife, Angie, didn’t win in Sonoma, but they each made headlines during qualifying. Angie rode her Denso Buell to the top spot in qualifying for the first time in her career with a personal best 6.736 elapsed time that also held as the quickest run of the event. Not to be outdone, Matt Smith rode to a 205.04 mph speed, by far the quickest ever recorded in the class. No other rider has ever been faster than 203. During qualifying, six riders topped 200 including Smith’s other teammate, Scotty Pollacheck. Race-winner Stoffer just missed her first 200-mph pass with a 199.76-mph top speed.
Angie Smith had the quickest run all weekend.
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