MORRISON, Colo. – At one point during qualifying, it appeared LE Tonglet would not be among the 16 starters for Sunday’s Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway, but the reigning NHRA Full Throttle Pro Stock Motorcycle champion rallied Saturday to capture the No. 11 berth.
Paired against rival Andrew Hines in Sunday’s opening round, Tonglet drove the Nitro Fish/Tonglet Racing Suzuki GSXR to a comeback victory. Hines left the line first (.030-second to .050), but Tonglet outran him, taking the win light with his quickest run of the weekend, 7.285 at 181.11 to 7.316 at 181.91.
“Our Nitro Fish Suzuki was flying,” he said. “I can’t thank my dad (Gary) enough for staying up late studying the (data) graphs and getting a good tune-up. Racing Andrew in the first round makes it seem like a final round.”
Tonglet wasn’t as fortunate with Eddie Krawiec, Hines’ teammate, in the quarterfinals. The blue Nitro Fish bike left the starting line 14-thousandths of a second too soon, ending his competitive day. Krawiec won with a 7.324 at 180.74.
Tonglet will be back in action Friday when the series moves back to sea level at Sonoma, Calif.
Paired against rival Andrew Hines in Sunday’s opening round, Tonglet drove the Nitro Fish/Tonglet Racing Suzuki GSXR to a comeback victory. Hines left the line first (.030-second to .050), but Tonglet outran him, taking the win light with his quickest run of the weekend, 7.285 at 181.11 to 7.316 at 181.91.
“Our Nitro Fish Suzuki was flying,” he said. “I can’t thank my dad (Gary) enough for staying up late studying the (data) graphs and getting a good tune-up. Racing Andrew in the first round makes it seem like a final round.”
Tonglet wasn’t as fortunate with Eddie Krawiec, Hines’ teammate, in the quarterfinals. The blue Nitro Fish bike left the starting line 14-thousandths of a second too soon, ending his competitive day. Krawiec won with a 7.324 at 180.74.
Tonglet will be back in action Friday when the series moves back to sea level at Sonoma, Calif.
