Karen Stoffer
Michael C. Johnson
Not GEICO Suzuki rider Karen Stoffer.
Stoffer, the No. 10 qualifier, prefers warmer weather, so the mid-90 degree temperatures of North Texas are more than welcome.
"I don't know if it gives me an advantage, but I'm definitely a desert lover," said Stoffer, who lives in Garnderville, Nev. "I do well in the heat. It certainly doesn't bother me as much as it bothers other people."
Plus, Stoffer is a fitness enthusiast, exercising up to an hour each day. Being in shape helps her cope with long days in the sun, even she's only riding her GEICO Suzuki for only a few seconds.
"A lot of people think that because we have such a short sprint of when we're actually working that you don't have to be in shape," Stoffer said. "But that's not true. We are in the leathers, we are in the sun all the time preparing for this. We were sitting on the track today when the track temp was over 120 degrees, and you add an extra 10 or 15 degrees for the motor.
"You definitely have to maintain your physical health in order to deal with the heat and everything that's going on. That helps you keep your mental focus so you can make a good pass."
Stoffer qualified No. 10 with a pass of 6.958 seconds at 191.48 mph, a run that was fifth-fastest in Friday's second session.
But on Saturday, as other teams picked, Stoffer's team could not. She went 6.979 seconds at 191.100 mph in Q3.
"The first session was the fast session," Stoffer said. "If you look at the run sheet, everybody went faster that session. But it was kind of a bad run for us, so we didn't move up the ladder."
In the final session, Stoffer went 7.000 at 190.38 mph.
"We didn't have anything to tune from," Stoffer said. "We came out for this session, and it was hot. We sat in the staging lanes for an hour. I'm not sure if the fuel got hot or what happened, but we definitely had a good pass. But it showed up slower on the board. We certainly didn't expect that."
Stoffer faces Jerry Savoie, who qualified No. 7 with a pass of 6.939 seconds at 191.95 mph, in the first round of eliminations Sunday.
"We have our work cut out," Stoffer said. "We never like to start out on the bottom half of the ladder, but at least we're in for Sunday's show."
Source: Karen Stoffer media
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