Tonglet, riding his NitroFish Suzuki GSX-R, closes gap on Hines
Maverick - Nov 1, 2010

LE Tonglet finished first at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, Las Vegas National Pro Stock Motorcycle event this past weekend. Tonglet, who has now reached the final in all five championship playoff events and won four of them, cut points leader Andrew Hines margin from 72 to 34 when he defeated Matt Smith in the final.

Final Round LAS VEGAS - Results of final, round 4 eliminations in Pro Stock Motorcycle at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 10th annual NHRA Las Vegas Nationals:

W/L Driver                                     R-Time - E-Time - Speed

(W) LE Tonglet (Nitrofish Suzuki)   0.038   -   6.951     - 188.86

Tonglet is 2 - 0 against Smith in prior events and this is the first time they have faced each other in a final round. Tonglet's last win was Dallas this year and he has a total of four in his career. Smith's last win was in Norwalk this year. he has 12 career wins.

Tonglet moved to a big advantage off the line and extended his lead all the way through the run. 

With this win tonglet is 34 points behind the leader in the championship battle. 

Tonglet was able to close the gap on Hines by reaching the final round for the fifth straight time and Hines’ streak of final-round appearances was snapped at seven with a semifinal loss to Smith. The final went to Tonglet’s blue Suzuki, 6.95 to 6.98.((“I don’t want to wake up,” said Tonglet. “It’s just been an awesome year since Indy. We came into the Countdown in seventh and after Indy we were No. 2. We’ve been on a roll since then, and we have to keep the momentum going. The Harley team is going to be tough to beat. Andrew has been in this situation before. We just need to keep our heads on straight and see what happens."

Tonglet, whose playoff win streak ended at the most recent event, in Reading, where he lost to Hines on a holeshot, kept the heat on the points leader despite losing his No. 1 engine in qualifying. ((“We hurt the motor that we had run all year in the first round of qualifying and went to our back-up Vance & Hines motor that only had three runs on it,” said Tonglet. “At first we couldn’t get it to run right, but they kept telling us that the engine was a good one, and we kept after it. It seemed to come to life during today’s eliminations.”((Tonglet raced past Bailey Whitaker, reigning season champ Hector Arana, and Jim Underdahl with runs of 6.986, 7.004, and 6.948 to reach the final, the seventh of his likely rookie-of-the-year campaign.

Smith, whose Al-Anabi Racing Buell hadn’t been to the final round since the Norwalk event in June, overcame a scary no-brakes trip into the LVMS sandtrap in qualifying to reach the final, the 24th of his career. ((Smith defeated Michael Phillips and Karen Stoffer before upsetting Hines in the semifinals by .002-second, driving around Hines’ imperceptible .039 to .041 holeshot to win, 7.037 to 7.041.

• Andrew Hines      -   2640 on a H-D/Vance & Hines Screamin’ Eagle V-Rod
• LE Tonglet            -   2606 on a NitroFish Suzuki GSX-R
• Matt Smith            -    2417 on a Al-Anabi Buell
• Eddie Krawiec    -     2413 on a H-D/Vance & Hines Screamin’ Eagle V-Rod
• Hector Arana       -    2335 on a Lucas Oil Products Buell
• Steve Johnson    -    2280 on a Racing/WyomingTech Suzuki
• Michael Phillips  -     2274 on a Racers Edge Suzuki
• Karen Stoffer       -     2233 on a Geico Powersports Suzuki
• Craig Treble        -     2183 on a Don Schumacher Racing Suzuki
• David Hope         -     2145 on a Vroom Racing Buell
  
  

The Countdown to the Championship will be determined on November 11 through 14 at the Automobile Club of Southern California, NHRA Finals.