INTERVIEW
2016 NHRA PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE CHAMPION JERRY SAVOIE
P98
this, I just wanted to win one
race. That's all. I just wanted
one win to prove that I could still
do this. A championship was far
more than I ever dreamed of.
Out here, we are all family—one
big family. Every time I come to
the racetrack, I'm surrounded by
love and that gives me confi-
dence. It's an amazing thing.
"Back home, I raise alligators
and people around the world
know me and all the big compa-
nies want my skins because we
don't cut corners and we deliver
a great product. I don't think I'm
better than the rest; we just do
things the right way. That's the
same with racing. I always feel
like others can do this just as
well as I can but then you watch
them come out and not suc-
ceed. I'm just an old country boy
and it still doesn't sink in that I
can be successful at my age. It
just proves that if you surround
yourself with good people, good
things will happen."
Savoie once threatened to quit
drag racing after he'd accom-
plished his initial goal of winning
one race. Apparently, that plan
has been abandoned because
he's already hard at work figur-
ing out a plan to defend his title.
Part of that plan includes adding
a teammate, fellow Louisiana
resident and 2010 world champ
LE Tonglet as part of a two-bike
Suzuki team.
"LE is the real deal," said
Savoie. "He can ride and he's
a great person. I've known his
family for more than 30 years. I
realized a long time ago that you
need to have two bikes out here
so you can get all the data from
both of them. If you look what's
out here there are two Harleys,
two Victory bikes, and two Lucas
Oil Buells and they all win races.
We feel like we need a second
bike, but the situation had to be
right. In LE Tonglet, we think we
have the right situation. I can
just imagine where we'd be if
we had two Suzukis as good as
my bike all year long. I'd have to
think that LE would have been
right there at the end battling
with us for the championship. I'm
already excited about next year.
It's going to be awesome." CN
Savoie knows
how to make his
bikes standout
in a crowd.
