A five-year dry spell has ended for Nitro Fish Suzuki Pro Stock Motorcycle racer LE Tonglet who won his first race since the Brainerd event in 2011, defeating the Harley-Davidson of Andrew Hines in the NHRA Sonoma Nationals final round on Sunday. Tonglet, the 2010 PSM world champion, had the winning run of 6.813 seconds at 196.73 mph to the losing time of 6.864 seconds at 194.52 mph.
“It has been five years since we have won, and to bring home the Wally after beating Andrew and Eddie back to back is just huge for our team,” said Tonglet. “We just come out here to have fun, and it wasn’t getting fun. We had to change somethings up and started getting round-wins, and it is just great.”
Tonglet, the number 4 qualifier, faced Katie Sullivan, Hector Arana, Eddie Krawiec, and Hines to secure the win. Krawiec, the current leader in the Pro Stock Motorcycle points chase, was the number 1 qualifier with a track record e.t. of 6.751 at 197.65.
Both Krawiec and his teammate, Hines, became the first two Pro Stock Motorcycle racers to clinch their position in the NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship on Friday during qualifying.
“I’ve always loved coming to Sonoma, great fans, great support, and not to mention great racing,” Krawiec stated after the qualifying session. “This track being close to sea level makes good runs. What it comes down to is I just feel very comfortable and relaxed.”
By race day, a total of six Suzukis had qualified for the 16-bike Sonoma field. Louisiana alligator farmer Jerry Savoie was looking strong on Friday, continuing his strong performance history in Sonoma, where he has been runner-up the last two years and No. 1 qualifier in 2014.
“I don’t know if it is a confidence thing or the crew chief has a handle on the tune-up,” Savoie said about his success at this track. “The Suzukis run well at sea level. We don’t run that good at Denver because of the altitude. When you hit that home run at sea level, [the Suzukis] really run good. We missed it on the first run really bad, but the second one was right where we needed to be. Looking at all the data, we thought we could run an .81 to be honest with you.”
Savoie says his team is trending much like last year, when they got hot near the end of the season and contended for the series crown, but eventually finished third.
The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing west coast swing will resume August 5-7 with the Protect the Harvest NHRA Northwest Nationals in Seattle.
NHRA Mello Yello Championship Points Standings
1. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson (824)
2. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson (735)
3. Angelle Sampey, Buell (595)
4. Jerry Savoie, Suzuki (556)
5. LE Tonglet, Suzuki (484)
6. Hector Arana Sr., Buell (427)
7. Chip Ellis, Buell (422)
8. Matt Smith, Victory (344)
9. Hector Arana Jr., Buell (305)
10. Steve Johnson, Suzuki (300)
