VOL. 55 ISSUE 38 SEPTEMBER 25, 2018 P33
nations. Screamin' Eagle Harley-
Davidson's Eddie Krawiec, the
incoming points leader, took a
big hit when he red-lighted by
just a thousandth of a second.
Reading winner Hector Arana Jr.
also went out after his Lucas Oil
EBR stalled on the starting line.
Sensing an opportunity to make
a big move in the points, Smith
was cautious to avoid a similar
fate.
"Sitting up there, I watched
Hector's bike not leave the
starting line and then Eddie
red-lighted and I thought, 'Wow,
both of those guys are out. Just
stay focused, cut a light and see
if you can win the first round,'"
said Smith. "We won that and
then we won the second round
and they told me I had the points
lead after that. I had Chip [Ellis].
Harley has brought him out as a
blocker. They have three bikes
out here trying to whip up on
us, but we're going do our best.
Then, I had LE in the final and
that was a tight race."
Smith, who now has 20 wins
in his career, was fifth-quickest
in qualifying with a 6.824, but
he quickly attributed the lack
of performance to a wounded
engine. He also fell short of his
goal to make his first 200-mph
run although he ran over 198 to
set the top speed of the race.
"We got here to St. Louis
and hurt our good motor Fri-
day night, and me and [wife]
Angie stayed up all night fixing
it," Smith said. "We limped it
through today and got by. Thank-
fully, I've got a couple of weeks
to work on our stuff before the
next race in Dallas. I told people
after Indy, we're going into the
Countdown on a strong note.
They know we're here. The way I
have it figured we can win three
of the six Countdown races and
win this championship. So far,
we've been to two finals. That's
my goal. Just keep going to final
rounds."
Although he didn't win, Ton-
glet helped himself in the points
standings with his runner-up
finish. After wins against Jimmy
Underdahl, Smith's wife, Angie,
and White Alligator Suzuki's
Jerry Savoie, Tonglet, who has
four wins this season, is second
in the points standings, one
round behind Smith.
"It sucks to lose the final,
especially when it's that close
but we had a good weekend as
far as the points are concerned,"
Tonglet said. "We're in this fight.
We can win the championship
but we're going to need to get
a break or two. The next time I
get in a race that is so close, it
needs to fall my way. That's the
difference between wining a
championship and not winning
it. You've got to win the close
ones."
Kevin McKenna
LE Tonglet lost to Smith in the final
but scored good points to keep
him very much in the race for the
championship.
