Motorcycles and news

It won’t be the first time Tonglet has defended a victory, his first career win was at St. Louis in 2001. But it will be the first time he defends an event title from the seat of his Screamin’ Eagle V-Rod and that was a long time in the making.

So when Tonglet and teammate Andrew Hines start competing Friday at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway, Tonglet will have a spring in his step he didn’t have at the same time last year.

“Winning a national event is amazing but usually one victory doesn’t mean as much as it did to us,” Tonglet said. “We went the entire first year of the Screamin’ Eagle program (2003) without even qualifying. Then it took us another year and a half for me to get to winner’s circle. An entire team had a few years of effort and hard work invested in that win and that’s what made it so special.”

Riders will have four chances to qualify for the third of 15 national NHRA events, starting with sessions at 3:30 and 6:30 p.m. Friday before wrapping up on Saturday (11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.). Final eliminations will start at 11 a.m. on Sunday.

Tonglet is hoping the pressure of trying to repeat a victory won’t be a distraction.

“The pressure comes from wanting to do well at the same track again,” the New Orleans native and resident said. ” I don’t think I had ever been more excited about winning a race in my career so I’m anxious to go back to Atlanta and try again.”

Tonglet also knows that the same event, even just a year later, doesn’t guarantee a team will even qualify.

“The technology changes in this sport so quickly,” Tonglet said. “We’re a perfect example of that. Byron (Hines, team owner) has done amazing things in building a new Harley-Davidson program from the ground up in just a few short years. But the rest of the series has been working night and day during the offseason too. Everyone wants to win and you don’t get any free passes for being the defending champ.”

Tonglet has three career wins in eight final round appearances and is currently in eighth place, less than two rounds out of the No. 3 spot. Hines has five career victories in 11 final rounds to go with his two NHRA POWERade Pro Stock Motorcycle championships. He is currently second in the point standings.

Harley-Davidson Racing Manager Anne Paluso said the team is anxious to get back to the track and attempt to add to the winning statistics.