Jerry Savoie had two reasons to feel happy Saturday night at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The charismatic alligator farmer from Cut Off, Louisiana, earned the No. 1 qualifying spot for the NHRA Toyota Nationals. He then confirmed a new partnership with fellow Louisiana racer LE Tonglet.

Savoie powered to a time of 6.880 seconds at 193.86 in his third qualifying session Saturday to improve on his No. 1 effort from Friday night.

“Don’t think I’m not humbled,” said an emotional Savoie after his second top qualifier of the season. “We work hard to get this.”

Savoie said he has learned to take nothing for granted in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Pro Stock Motorcycle class.

“Usually I get bumped after Friday, but for the last two races we’ve been able to hold on. Thank God All Mighty and my crew,” he said.  

Savoie credited his crew chief Tim Kulungian for deciphering the complex track conditions Saturday.

“The conditions weren’t that great, but Tim gets better as the season goes on,” Savoie said. “Vegas take a weird tune up.  They have some real fast bikes out there, but some of them just weren’t able to find it.”

Savoie said he takes pride in beating the heavy hitters in his division.

“Some of these guys are stout,” he said. “The Harleys, Matt Smith, Angelle [Sampey] -  they’re all good. Every year at this time, we usually step up. Hopefully this year, we can give them a run for their money.”

Savoie entered the weekend third in points with a 49-point deficit to leader Eddie Kraweic. Both Kraweic and points runner-up Andrew Hines lead the Harley Davidson contingent.

Including eight points he received for capturing the top qualifying spot, Savoie earned the maximum amount of points possible entering today’s eliminations.

“That could be a deciding factor on race day at Pomona,” he said. “Vance and Hines gives us a great engine. I know a lot of people don’t like Vance and Hines, but you take one of those out of anybody else’s Suzuki and put it in my bike and it’s going to go fast."

Savoie also expressed his excitement with his new partners Tonglet and owner Kenny Korestky.

“We’ve been shopping around for two years,” Savoie said. “Everybody comes and talk to us, but nobody has really come to the  plate.
From a family standpoint, I couldn’t have a better partner. I don’t know who is excited more, [Tonglet] or me.  I think we’re gonna be bad ass.”

Tonglet shares in that enthusiasm.

“That Alligator bike has been flying, pretty much all year,” Tonglet said. “I’m honored to be paired with Jerry and Tim and to run out of the same trailer. It’s unreal right now.”

Savoie hopes to make the Suzuki story even better today. He will face Scotty Pollacheck in the first round of eliminations.