Pro Stock Motorcycle No. 1 qualifier L.E. Tonglet said Saturday that teammate and White Alligator Racing boss Jerry Savoie had a Suzuki that was “coming around.”

It came around at the perfect time, giving the alligator farmer from Cut Off, La., his ninth NHRA victory Sunday at the NGK Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at Concord, N.C.

Andrew Hines was runner-up, despite launching his Vance & Hines Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson Street Rod first in the final quartet that included Scotty Pollacheck and Matt Smith.

Savoie won with an elapsed time of 6.784 seconds at 195.73 mph on the at zMAX Dragway quarter-mile to edge Hines, who countered with a slower 6.873-second E.T. at a faster 197.05.

“It was an amazing thing,” Savoie said. “We struggled all weekend. We made one hit on the first engine. Tim [crew chief Kulungian] worked hard all winter to get these things right, and we’ve been struggling. He made the decision to pull it out and put another one in, and we had some issues. Last night he worked until about 10:30 and said, ‘Hey – give it all we got.’

“Went out there today and thought we showed some real promise. We kind of figured some things out. I’m glad to be here, trust me,” the 2016 series champion said, addressing the media as the first-time winner of the four-wide venture.”

Gatornationals winner Eddie Krawiec’s Round 1 exit Sunday guaranteed the class would have a new winner in just its second appearance so far on the 2018 Mello Yello Drag Racing Series tour.

It happened Sunday to be a relentless helicopter-flying farmer-rancher who raises alligators and um, a herd of possibly tipsy cattle.

“I’m an outdoorsman, as everyone knows. I have a ranch in Mexico. I love animals. It’s not just alligators, either. In the last year – people think I’m crazy because I’m creating my own problems . . . all I do is work . . . I work seven days a week – I bought some cows. So now I have cows. And it’s really funny. We get the grain [to feed the cows] from the beer brewery. And those cows are happy. My wife and my sister got together and formed a company called Happy Cow Farms. For me, work is not a job. It’s a pleasure. And to come out here kind of gives me a break. Without everybody back home taking care of things, I wouldn’t be able to do what I do. And I appreciate everybody in my world.

“People ask me all the time, why do you cry when you win?” Savoie said. “People don’t have a clue what it takes to do this. It’s a lot of hard work and dedication by your whole team, from the truck driver to Vance & Hines. It’s a tough gig, man, and mentally, it’s a tough gig. At my age, at 59, to win one, you never know when it’s going to be the last one. I’ll be honest with you: my time is coming due. It’s going to end. And I’m not going to be out here at 70 years old, beating up the track. I thank God – and Racers for Christ. It gives people confidence to go out and do what we do.”  

Savoie joined Steve Torrence (Top Fuel), Cruz Pedregon (Funny Car), Erica Enders (Pro Stock), and Jose Gonzalez (Pro Modified) in the winners circle.

As for his program’s early-season success, Savoie said, “With L.E., when you put him on a bike, you don’t have to judge whether it’s going to be done right or wrong. We click really well and gel. We thrive on each other. I went up there, and it finally came together. I did my job. It ran some good numbers.”

He said he and Kulungian made some changes to the clutch and gear ratio throughout the day.

“The main thing,” he said, “is reaction time on my bike, as everybody knows, is not really good. I’m part of the problem, and the way we run our set-up is another part. I cut a halfway-decent light in E2 [the semifinals]. It gives you a lot of confidence. When you go to the line, you try not to think of anything.” He said a handful of factors played into the tuning and riding strategy Sunday, but “we got after it, and it showed.”

Hines was making his second straight final round in as many races this year and seeking his fourth victory at this event. He is the class’ all-time victories leader, and he was pursuing No. 49, which would have tied him with fuel legend Don Prudhomme at No. 12 among all NHRA racers ever.

Pollacheck, at 6.865/193.79 on the Suzuki Extended Protection entry, finished third in the final quartet. The 49-year-old from Central Point, Ore., trekked all the way across the country, aiming for his first NHRA Pro Stock bike victory. Many have called him a Victory Waiting To Happen, but he’ll have to wait at least until next weekend, when the series completes a string of three consecutive races with the NHRA Southern Nationals Powered by Mello Yello at Atlanta Dragway.

Smith was disqualified in the final for crossing the center line. His San Marino Excavating/Denso Victory motorcycle veered right as he approached the finish line and clipped the timing blocks– The two-time series champion and 2010 winner of this race – was in position to share the winners circle again with father Rickie Smith, a Pro Modified finalist. Rickie Smith fared only slightly better: third in his quad, as Jose Gonzalez won in that class. Matt Smith was hoping to record Victory No. 19 of his career.