Motorsports Recap And Behind The Scenes Access

NHRA Mickey Thompson Tires Pro Bike Battle

The NHRA Mickey Thompson Tires Pro Bike Battle is a one-off specialty race on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing circuit. Taking place at Sonoma Raceway in the wine country of Northern California, the top eight riders in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class compete for bragging rights and a check totaling $7,500.

First Round 

#1 Eddie Krawiec v. #8 Chip Ellis

#2 Andrew Hines v. #7 Matt Smith

#3 LE Tongelt v. #6 Angelle Sampey

#4 Jerry Savoie v. #5 Hector Arana Jr.

Reigning world champion, Jerry Savoie had a slower-but-winning time of 6.784 seconds at 195.05 mph to Hector Arana Jr.’s 6.773 second pass at 197.91 mph. Arana red-lit by .006 seconds at the start.

Points-leader, LE Tonglet made a 6.830 second run at 196.96 mph, much better than his opponent Angelle Sampey’s time of 10.261 seconds at 69.39 mph.

Eddie Krawiec took down Chip Ellis in the first round with a swift pass of 6.851 seconds at 198.88 mph. Ellis put up a 6.950 second effort at 195.62 mph but it wasn’t enough to get past the Denver winner.

Andrew Hines got the win over Matt Smith with a 6.866 second run at 199.55 mph, the quickest speed of the meet. Smith ran a 6.879 second pass at 198 mph.

Semi-final Round

Jerry Savoie threw his chance at the win away on the starting line when he went .008 on the red side of the tree. He still made a decent pass of 6.800 seconds at 197.33 mph. Eddie Krawiec took the win with a slower pass of 6.840 seconds at 196.67 mph.

LE Tonglet will take on Eddie Krawiec in the final round of the Pro Bike Battle. Tonglet took down Krawiec’s teammate, Andrew Hines with a 6.783 second effort at 197.02 mph. Hines run the slowest elapsed time of the round with a 6.844 second lap at 197.42 mph.

Final Round

LE Tonglet took the win over Eddie Krawiec in the final round with a 6.827 second lap at 196.07 mph. Eddie Krawiec had problems around the 1/8th mile mark when his bike went towards the center line. “It’s the first time I’ve been in the battle and to be able to win it on the first go-around is pretty amazing. Hopefully we can get in it next year and do the same thing, ” Tonglet explained. This is Tonglet’s first Pro Bike Battle win and joins his brother, GE, as a winner of the specialty event. “My brother won the battle in 2005 and to be able to do the same thing and follow win his footsteps means a lot to me.”

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