It wasn’t like catching lightning in a bottle…it was more like things coming together at the right time.

Timing is the most critical thing for the driver of a fuel injected motorcycle, and Jerry Savoie’s timing couldn’t have been better Saturday at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals.

It wasn’t like catching lightning in a bottle…it was more like things coming together at the right time.

Timing is the most critical thing for the driver of a fuel injected motorcycle, and Jerry Savoie’s timing couldn’t have been better Saturday at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals.

Savoie vaulted to the top of the Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying sheet, driving his fuel injected Savoie’s Alligator Farm Suzuki to a blistering 6.810 pass at 197.86 miles per hour. He claimed his first career No. 1 qualifier honor and will face No. 16 Chaz Kennedy in the first round of eliminations.

It was all a matter of timing…especially after missing Denver. Savoie owns an alligator farm in Louisiana and, with bad weather heading towards his farm at home, he had to make a quick decision.

He went home to prepare his gator farm for the storm.

“I feel great after last week,” Savoie said. “We landed off a plane in Denver and had to turn around and catch a flight right back to New Orleans, so we missed Denver. We had high hopes going into Denver.”

Those high hopes carried over to Sonoma, where his racing program is starting to come together.

“Sonoma, we ran good over here last year. It’s a really fast track, but for a Suzuki to go .81 is really, really strong,” Savoie said. “I think you have to credit (engine builders)  Vance and Hines, mostly, for building a great engine and (crew chief) Tim Kulungian is a really smart individual. He has been working really hard.”

Savoie admits his team struggled to get a handle on his fuel-injected Suzuki, and that the timing makes all the difference.

“The carburetor is just sitting there waiting, and the engine tells it when it wants to take fuel,” he explained. “With fuel injection it has to be injected at the precise time. If you don’t know when that is you’ve got problems. That’s why we didn’t hardly qualify in Atlanta. We were number 16 and fought by one thousandth of a second to get back in. It’s really come a long ways.

“(Vance and Hines) have been telling us all year that the power is there. You just have to go out and grab it.

“We struggled with fuel injection at the beginning of the year and it seems like we’re finally finding that window to get in,” he continued. “The bike is really responding to every change we make. Who knows what goes from here but we know we have a fast motorcycle. I’m glad to be here.”

It is the first time Savoie has sat on top of the qualifying sheet after all qualifying sessions.

“I qualified number one on a Friday night in Englishtown four years ago and that was pretty exciting,” Savoie said. “To be (top qualifier) of the whole event is real exciting. I’m more excited for the crew guys. They really work hard.”

As for his first round opponent, Savoie is taking nothing for granted.

“You just get out there and do what you do,” he said. “Hopefully you get the win light. Chaz is a good racer. It’s number 16 against number one, but when the field is spread like it is now it’s anybody’s game. You just try to focus and don’t worry about who’s in the other lane.”

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