ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. (June 12) -- After a couple of tumultuous months, GEICO Powersports racer Karen Stoffer seems to have found her mojo at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.
Stoffer qualified her record-breaking GEICO Powersports Suzuki in the fifth slot at the 41st annual United Association NHRA SuperNationals with a 6.901 at 191.70 mph. Her teammate Morgan Lucas will also race for a trophy Sunday after a 10th-best 3.897 at 304.53 mph in his GEICO Powersports/Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster.
"We're really excited because we've been struggling getting the bike to go straight down the racetrack and we managed to do it four times in a row here," Stoffer said. "We're right where we want to be. We were able to pull off the No. 1 spot after the first hit and we ended up fifth overall, so we're up there with the top bikes."
As the No. 5 qualifier, Stoffer will start Sunday's action against 12th-ranked Angie Smith, who posted a 6.998 at 182.75 mph.
"We started well enough that we were able to try some things on the other passes so now we'll go back to the way we had it in the first session and go out there and race," Stoffer said. "Angie will be a good test. She's a good racer and that's a good team but I think the GEICO Powersports Suzuki will be ready and we hope to have a fun day."
Lucas has the unenviable task of racing his teammate Shawn Langdon in the opening round of Top Fuel. The good news is one of the Morgan Lucas Racing rails will advance. The bad news is one will be finished early.
"When you have a teammate in the same class you're going to run into them at different points," Lucas said. "We'd like to do it later in the day but it is what it is. We'll get after it and may the best car win.
"We're both running better each race and the gains are there. In the long run, both Shawn and I are going to have great racecars."
As the higher qualified driver, Langdon (3.835 at 313.95 mph) will have lane choice over his car owner, but Lucas promises a great race between the two.
"It'll be fun," Lucas said. "I hope whoever wins goes on to win the whole race."
Eliminations begin at 11 a.m. EDT.
