Stoffer wins for second time in three events

Minden's Karen Stoffer continued her hot early season run by winning for the second time in three events on Sunday in the National Hot Rod Association's Pro Stock Motorcycle class.

Stoffer's second win of the year helped her regain the points lead in the process. Stoffer won for the second time on Sunday at the Southern Nationals in Atlanta after winning earlier in the year in Gainsville, Fla.

The final against red-hot Matt Smith, who is second in the points, was a bit anticlimactic as Smith broke the moment he let the clutch out at the starting line. Smith was standing next to his Torco Buell watching as Stoffer's Geico Motorcycle Suzuki screamed through the top-end timers in 7.063 seconds at 188.65 mph.

"We've been striving for consistency for four years and it finally feels like we've found it," Stoffer said. "I never expected to be standing here after three races with two wins and the points lead. It's quite a feeling. Kudos to Gary (Stoffer's husband and crew chief" for helping me hit the lights and for setting up the perfect clutch combination.

"(NHRA announcer) Alan Reinhart said in Gainesville that we'd won our one race for the year and that really kind of got under our skin. We really used that to motivate us to prove him wrong and I'm glad we won our second one already."

Stoffer now leads second place Smith by 32 points in the standings.