Nine days after winning his third consecutive NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle race, LE Tonglet still finds his startling run for the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series championship a bit mind boggling.
“It is unbelievable,” said the 20-year-old rookie driver from Metairie, La.
That hasn’t affected his motivation, however. Sure, he has defeated series leader Andrew Hines in the final rounds of NHRA’s first three Countdown to the Championship playoff races, cutting away all but 44 points from Hines’ advantage in the process. There are three more events remaining and LE is determined to make competitive life miserable for Hines – and the other title hopefuls – the rest of the way.
“We are going to keep our heads on straight,” Tonglet said of his Nitro Fish Suzuki GSXR Pro Stock Motorcycle team that is comprised of his father Gary, the tuner, and brother GT, the crew chief. “Everything is working to our advantage. We want to keep up the momentum and stay strong at all three races. Then we’ll see how everything plays out.”
First up is the Toyo Tires Nationals, Oct. 8-10, at Maple Grove Raceway near Reading, Pa.
While others discuss the pressure of a three-race, 12-round win streak, LE says he’ll likely go into his first race at Reading thinking of it as “the first round after I lost a race and I’m trying to redeem myself. We’ll just go round by round, go as fast as we can and hope we get the win light.”
“I’m enjoying everything LE has been doing,” said Nitro Fish owner Kenny Koretsky. “The Tonglets are competitive, hard working people and I’m happy to support them. We had a new Vance and Hines motor delivered so they will have a spare engine for the first time this year.
“We’ll have it ready for when we need it,” LE said. “But I hope we don’t need it.”