VOL. 54 ISSUE 30 AUGUST 1, 2017 P87
ously, the money is great but
it also builds your confidence.
The Harley guys have new bikes
and they're struggling a bit but
we know that won't last. It's go-
ing to get harder and harder to
win these races as the season
goes on. We want to get as
many as we can, while we can."
Tonglet won three rounds
on Saturday to win the Mickey
Thompson Pro Bike Battle and
then returned a day later two
win four more rounds on his
way to the event win. In addi-
tion to his final round win over
Smith, Tonglet also tallied vic-
tories against Fred Camarena,
Smith's wife, Angie, and Lucas
Oil Buell's Hector Arana Jr. Ton-
glet is now 25-3 in elimination
rounds this season, his first as a
member of Jerry Savoie's White
Alligator Suzuki team.
"We knew when we teamed
with Jerry that we would be very
competitive and successful, but
to just stay tucked. I didn't want
to get distracted or miss a shift
or anything. That could have
been bad."
Tonglet not only won the
Sonoma race for the second-
straight year, he also collected
a nice $10,000 bonus on
Saturday when he won the
Mickey Thompson Tires Pro
Bike battle, a special eight-bike
invitational race that is open
only to the riders who qualify
the highest at the races held
during the previous 12 months.
Tonglet was competing in the
event for the first time and de-
feated Screamin' Eagle Harley-
Davidson's Eddie Krawiec in the
final round. The Vance & Hines
Harley team had won the event
for nine-straight years before
Tonglet earned the title.
"It's a big benefit to win that
race on Saturday and then
come out and race again on
Sunday," Tonglet said. "Obvi-
(Above)
The Tonglet
Suzuki Team
celebrates win
number five
this season.
(Right) Smith
came within a
couple of ticks
of breaking
the 200 mph
record.
