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SONOMA, Calif. (AP) — LE Tonglet raced to his first NHRA Pro Bike Battle victory Saturday during the Toyota NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway.
Tonglet earned $7,500 in the all-star bonus race featuring the top eight Pro Stock Motorcycles riders.
Tonglet beat Eddie Krawiec in the final with a 6.827-second pass at 196.07 mph on a Suzuki. In his first appearance in the Pro Bike Battle, Tonglet also topped Angelle Sampey and Andrew Hines.
"To be able to win it on the first go-around is pretty amazing," Tonglet said. My brother (GT Tonglet) won it back in 2005 and to be able to follow in his footsteps just means a lot to me."
In in the regular NHRA event, Leah Pritchett (Top Fuel), Robert Hight (Funny Car), Drew Skillman (Pro Stock) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) earned No. 1 qualifying positions.
Pritchett topped the lineup with her Friday run at a track-record time of 3.669 at 304.80.
Hight had a national-record speed of 339.87 with a time of 3.807 in his Chevrolet Camaro on Friday.
Skillman ran a 6.538 at 211.36 in a Chevrolet Camaro on Saturday during the third qualifying session.
Smith powered his Polaris Victory Magnum to a 6.771 at 198.70 during the final qualifying session.
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