STOFFER CYCLE ON UPWARD TREND.

Byline: TIM HADDOCK

MOTOR SPORTS

It's only one race into the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle season, but Karen Stoffer is off to the best start of her career.

She enters this weekend's NHRA Powerade Drag Racing Series races at Houston Raceway Park atop the Pro Stock Motorcycle standings, the first time in her career that she has been the leader. She won the season opener at Gainesville Raceway in Florida two weeks ago in unlikely fashion.

And now she is heading to the track where she won the first NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle race of her career in 2004. She followed it with another win at Houston a year later.

She calls Houston Raceway Park her comfort zone.

"We have a lot of luck and angels riding with us," said Stoffer, a St. Genevieve High of Sun Valley graduate. "We seem to win one race every year. At Houston, we just have a little bit more."

Stoffer said her weekend at Gainesville was an up-and-down affair. She struggled through qualifying and made it to the eilimination rounds with the 16th and final spot.

That meant she had to face three-time Pro Stock Motorcycle champion Angelle Sampey, the fastest qualifier, in the first round of eliminations. Stoffer won and started her remarkable run.

"The first round was huge for us," Stoffer said. "It started the momentum for us."

She then beat Shawn Gann and Steve Johnson to make it to the final round of eliminations against Matt Smith. She beat him by .006seconds for the fourth Pro Stock Motorcycle win of her career.

It was also the third time she had to work her way through the competition with a poor qualifying effort. She has won races in the past as the 14th and 15th qualifier.

"We have a pattern of it," Stoffer said. "It's not what we like to do."

She said she's hoping Houston Raceway Park will offer a chance to break that pattern. While it may be a track that fits in Stoffer's comfort zone, it went through a major renovation in December. The track was resurfaced with an asphalt mix. Houston Raceway Park officials called it one of the most extensive renovations in the track's 19-year history.

Hearing about the track's renovations, in particular the resurfacing, was a bit of a surprise to Stoffer. But it didn't seem to spoil her anticipation of returning to Houston.

"Everything just clicks at that track for us," Stoffer said. "Every year we gain more data for each race. I think we're prepared and I'm in my comfort zone."

If she can stay in the top eight in the standings, she will be eligible for the Countdown, the NHRA equivalent of NASCAR's Chase, a six-race playoff to determine the NHRA champions in the four national divisions.

Stoffer had her best finish in the standings a year ago. She was sixth.

She said she doesn't think the Countdown will change the way she races.

"I don't think it necessarily makes too much of a difference," Stoffer said. "I don't see it making a difference either way. All it does for us is shorten the season. It makes every single event more and more important."

Showdown to include Late Models

David Beat, the winner of Saturday night's NASCAR Super Late Model race at Irwindale Speedway, spilled the ball bearings, so to speak, in regard to plans for the Toyota All-Star Showdown.

Beat said the Super Late Models will be included in the Showdown, the season-ending all-star race at Irwindale Speedway that features drivers from the two NASCAR Grand National Divisions: the West Series and the Busch East Series.

NASCAR will announce its official plans to include Irwindale Speedway's Super Late Model drivers to the Showdown today.

In previous years, drivers from the four Elite Divisions across the country were included in the Showdown. But NASCAR eliminated the Elite Division from its developmental ranks last year.

Irwindale Speedway track officials reportedly informed the Super Late Model drivers during their drivers' meeting that there was a possibility they would be included in the Showdown.

"Everybody was excited," said Rod Johnson, a driver from Canyon Country who competes in the Super Late Model division at Irwindale Speedway. "I think it's a done deal."

That possibility will become a reality. The Super Late Model drivers will be part of the Showdown in October at Irwindale Speedway.

The date of the Showdown has yet to be set, but the tenative schedule of races has the Super Late Models running Friday night and the Grand Nationals running the following night Saturday.

NASCAR is expected to announce today how many Super Late Model drivers will be eligible, how drivers will qualify and what the purse will be for the race.

One important question that is still unanswered is whether the Super Late Model portion of the Showdown will be televised.

Speed has televised the Elite and Grand National Showdown races in the past. Their TV plans for this year's Showdown have yet to be set.

There is also the question of whether drivers and teams from other tracks would be eligible to earn spots in the Showdown.

For drivers like Johnson, who are struggling financially to race, qualifying for the Showdown might be a problem.

"If I don't make all the races, I'm not involved in it," Johnson said. "That's the bummer of it."

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, 2 boxes

Photo:

(1) The All-Star Showdown in Irwindale will feature Super Late Model drivers in 2007.

(2) Karen Stoffer (St. Genevieve High of Sun Valley) leads the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle standings for the first time in her career.

Donald Miralle/Getty Images

Box:

(1) THIS WEEK

(2) Etc.