LE Tonglet spends his weekdays fighting fires in his hometown of Metaire, Louisiana.

The No. 1 qualifier beat the heat again Sunday in the finals of the Route 66 Nationals at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Illinois.

Tonglet, who rides the Nitro Fish Racing Suzuki, delivered a pass of 6.835 seconds at 195.99 mph to clip Hector Arana Jr., who ran 6.878 at 193.28 in his Lucas Oil Buell. In the six PSM races of 2017, Tonglet has four wins in four final rounds and has crafted a margin of 121 at the top of point standings. The 2012 world champion has 14 career wins.

“I sure this is my year,” said Tonglet, who earned back-to-back victories in 2011-12 at Route 66. “We go race by race and just try to move forward.”

Tonglet credited his wizard of a crew chief, Tim Kulungian, for conjuring up the perfect blend of speed and consistency Sunday.

“Tim just has this bike just flying. It’s a rocket ship ever single run,” Tonglet said.

“We knew we had a good bike at the start of the season, but it was just a matter of getting tuned up as we learn more about the bike each week. On Sunday our goal is to get win lights, so I’ve improved on being calm and staying focused to try and get the job done.”

En route to the finals, Tonglet defeated Cory Reed, Scotty Pollacheck and Karen Stoffer. Arana Jr. vanquished the gauntlet of Angelle Sampey, Angie Smith and Eddie Krawiec to earn his second runner-up finish of the season.

Former NHRA Pro Stock world champion Jim Yates worked in the pits for Arana, whose father Hector is recovering at home from shoulder surgery.

“Not bad at all,” said Arana, summing up his weekend at the hot track.  “You have to hand it to LE. He’s been nearly perfect, but we are definitely headed right there. I really wish we could have brought the win home today for my dad, but we gave it our best.”

The final clash brought fans to their feet.

“We were dead-even off the starting line, but we just missed it a little on the tune-up,” Arana said. “We’re definitely on the right track. Moving forward, I know we will have something for them over these next few races.”

The final eight bikes on Sunday included a mix of four Suzuki’s and four V12s.

After recent struggles, the Harley-Davidson contingent continues to work on the wheelie bar on their bikes in hopes of being more competitive.

Jerry Savoie, defending PSM world champion and owner of the White Alligator Racing team which features Tonglet, was upset by Karen Stouffer in the second round. The Savoie bike bobbled early in the run, giving Stouffer time to pull away

Tonglet praised colorful businessman and former driver Kenny Koretsky for setting up the team arrangement between Louisiana natives, Savoie and Tonglet. Koretsy is the owner of the distinctive Nitro Fish Racing and Apparel.

“We can’t thank Kenny enough,” Tonglet said. “He’s back home and still recovering. Without him and Nitro Fish stepping up, we couldn’t have done this deal. And I can’t thank enough all the crew that gets this bike back together in between rounds. They just do a really good job.”

Krawiec remains second in points, 91 behind Tonglet following Sunday’s semifinal appearance. Arana Jr. moves up to third, with Pollacheck dropping to fourth.