Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Karen Stoffer only 7th woman to win pro event

Thursday, April 22, 2004 | 10:39 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

Pro Stock Bike competitor Karen Stoffer made drag-racing news for the second time in two years Sunday when she became only the seventh woman in NHRA history to win a professional event.

Two years ago, Stoffer entered the NHRA record book when she lost to Angelle Savoie in the first all-female final round in PSB history.

This time, however, Stoffer came out on the winning end as she beat Antron Brown to the finish line by a scant .0018 seconds (about 6 inches) for her first career Pro Stock Bike victory.

" All I can say is wow, because I don't know how to describe it any other way," Stoffer said.

Stoffer, 40, is a graduate of Nevada-Reno and resides in Minden. She had one runner-up finish and was 11th in PSB points in 2003, her first full season in the category.

That Stoffer even was in a position to race for a win Sunday at Houston Raceway Park was a minor miracle. Up until a few days before the O'Reilly Spring Nationals, Stoffer lacked the sponsorship to attend the race. Geico Insurance signed an extension last week with Stoffer that will allow her to compete in the remaining 13 Pro Stock Bike events.

"For a team that might not have been here, this is just amazing," Stoffer said of her victory.

Ashley Force advanced to the semifinal round at Houston Raceway Park on Sunday and leads both the national and Division 4 standings.

"I'm comfortable and getting more confident in the car," Force said. "I'm really excited. I've got a good group of guys (and) we are having a blast."

Force drives the Mattel Toy Store dragster owned and maintained by Jerry Darien and Ken Meadows. She is in her first full season competing in the category after graduating from Cal State Fullerton.

Although Anderson is threatening to run away with the category, he said he noticed last weekend that other teams are starting to gain on the Ken Black-owned Vegas General Construction Pontiac Grand Am.

"This class is absolutely the toughest class out here," Anderson said. "We've got a great team here, everybody knows that, but it kind of showed this weekend that there are some teams making gains.

"The Jeg's team ran real well ... and Warren (Johnson) outran me on speed too, and that shows power. But so far my team has done a better job with the racecar and getting the e.t. out of it. If we can maintain it, we'll be in good shape but it shows guys are making power gains."

Also picking up opening-night wins were Scott Parsons (Street), Greg Liskey (Motorcycle) and A.J. Del Rosario (Sport Compact).

The next event on The Strip's schedule is the Goodguys Nitro Nationals, April 30-May 1.