Defeating boss Jerry Savoie in the final round Sunday at the NHRA AAA Texas FallNationals near Dallas wasn’t any big issue for Nitro Fish Suzuki Pro Stock Motorcycle racer L.E. Tonglet.

The White Alligator Racing team had won this third of six Countdown to the Championship races.

Tonglet had the points lead after his semifinal defeat of Eddie Krawiec after points leader Matt Smith lost against Karen Stoffer in the opening round.

The Metairie, La., firefighter has other things to think about after winning with a 6.892-second, 194.80-mph pass on the Texas Motorplex quarter-mile against Savoie’s 6.907, 193.88.

Tonglet and wife Kayla are expecting their first child, a son, Oct. 29.

And he said he isn’t even sure what next year holds for him, regardless of whether he wins his second championship.

“We don’t know yet, just with work and everything like that. Jerry says he’s going to be out at five or six races. He’s going to do a handful of them. Our program’s still up in the air. You know, it’s mainly relying on Kenny Koretsky and Nitro Fish, so we’re just going to see. Kenny doesn’t make any plans soon, he waits until the last minute, so we’re just going to talk to him after Pomona and see what he wants to do,” Tonglet said.

Always learning at the last minute what his NHRA plans will be is “frustrating a little bit,” he said, “but I’ve accomplished enough, and if we quit this year, I’d be happy with it, you know? It’s just we’ve been out here eight years, and we’ve had a lot of fun. If we come back next year, great. If we don’t, I’m not going to lose any sleep over it.”

He might not lose any sleep about the next race – the Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway at Concord, N.C. – either. But he will take in a 47-point edge over Krawiec and a 48-point advantage over Smith.

“We’ve got a bike that’s, I think we’re leading the points now,” Tonglet said.

He is.

“And we’re not going to look back. You know, Jerry made a big move in the points chase also. He made a big move and he should be three or four,” Tonglet said.

Savoie is fifth, 109 points off the pace and six behind No. 4 Hector Arana Jr.

“So,” Tonglet said, “we’re going to have two bikes that are going to competing for this championship down to the wire.”

He said he learned from earning the championship in his rookie year, in 2010, “just [to] stay calm and take it one round at a time. The key is to go rounds. We show up to a race and I just want to get to the semis. And whatever happens after that is just bonus, kind of. If you can go to the semis, you’re going to have a very good shot going into Pomona. We’ve just got to stay calm and focused and not make any mistakes.”

He said he was excited Sunday when he saw Smith lose.

“I ran before Matt ran, so we were coming back on the return road and we saw the other win light on in the lane. And that’s when we kind of got excited and said, ‘The door’s open. We’ve just got to capitalize on it.’ We just kept our heads straight and just kept going rounds,” Tonglet said. “You’ve got to face them one round at a time, and you need four win lights to get all the points that you can.”

Sunday afternoon he also got a black cowboy hat, a recently established tradition for NHRA pro winners at the Texas Motorplex.

“It’s pretty cool. Last time we won here in 2010, we got the hat and then Kenny Koretsky really won it, and so I gave it to him,” Tonglet said. “But he’s not getting this one. He’s not here. He’s going to have to order one if he wants one. But my dad got one, and it’s just, it’s pretty cool to have these specialty trophies, you know. Just to go with the Wally, it’s something special.”

Karen Stoffer defeated points leader Matt Smith in the first round, while Eddie Krawiec and Tonglet advanced.

Incidentally, the bike quarterfinal round was thought to be the first time that each of the four match-ups featured a male racer versus a female rider. The men dominated, winning all four pairings. (Eddie Krawiec defeated Angie Smith, Tonglet eliminated Angelle Sampey, Steve Johnson won against Kelly Clontz. Savoie benefited from Karen Stoffer’s red light.)

But any stress dissolved after the semifinal.

“We got back to the pit, and it was a lot of fun,” Tonglet said. “They came by and told us an outrageous amount of time to be back up here. It was very short. And I said, ‘Well both bikes are right here, so I know the other guy can’t go down the track without me.’ So it was just a lot of fun in the pit, trying to get them cooled off and we were having fun. But once we came up here, I didn’t even look at him and he didn’t look at me. It was just all business.”

All day long, Tonglet and his brother, GT, spent a lot of time putting motors in Savoie’s bike.

“Jerry’s bike didn’t do too good in Round 1.  And then they got back, and me and GT were actually helping them swap motors. They had one guy working on my bike. That was kind of crazy. And then the next run, they did it again, so we had to change the motor again. And the motor came out of that bike in three rounds. So it was kind of crazy.”

So for Savoie simply to be in the final was a testament to how hard Tonglet worked all day.

“Absolutely. It wasn’t for a lack of effort, that’s for sure. It was a lot of work. Before the finals, I had all the fans on my bike, and I look at Jerry’s bike and they didn’t have a single fan cooling it off. So I went over to the crew guy, Rick, and GT was helping him, and I said, ‘Man, y’all don’t cool them off?’ He said, ‘No, we just swap ‘em.’”

Whatever works, whatever happens, whatever 2019 brings, it’s all fine with L.E. Tonglet.