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 |  | There was a time when GT Tonglet considered a career as a Pro Stock racer, jamming down the track with a roof over his head and a clutch pedal beneath his feet. Luckily for racing fans, in particular Screamin' Eagle® Harley-Davidson fans, he has shelved his ideas of racing a door-slammer.
After all, Tonglet is a Pro Stock Motorcycle racer at heart. He can leave the starting line quicker than a man shot out of a cannon. He can blaze down the quarter-mile track at speeds nearing 200 mph with a thin pair of leathers on and think nothing of it. He can hit each shift with precision as fans can follow along with the throaty growl produced by the Vance & Hines engineered V-Rod motor.
Tonglet has been able to do all of these things since he was just a kid. But now the 22-year-old New Orleans native is a man with his eyes narrowly focused on the NHRA POWERade Pro Stock Motorcycle championship.
When the Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson program tabbed Terry Vance and Byron Hines to bring Vance & Hines power to the first factory-backed Harley-Davidson entry in NHRA drag racing history it wasn't long before they named GT Tonglet as the rider.
They wanted experience. They wanted loyalty. They wanted someone to grow with the program. They found all of that with the baby-faced, blue-eyed kid from the Bayou. The team took its share of hits during the debut season in 2002. They failed to qualify in the seven events they attended as they built an engine program from the ground-up. It didn't take long to put the sub-par results behind them.
In 2003, Tonglet rode to the top of the qualifying ladder at the Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway in Denver. It was the first time a Harley-Davidson held the top spot going into final eliminations. He also earned a final round appearance at St. Louis and turned heads as the Screamin' Eagle entry became competitive.
In 2004, Tonglet recorded career-best numbers and joined teammate Andrew Hines in the first all-Harley final at the season opener in Gainesville, Fla., before Hines went on to win the series championship.
But nothing has compared to the early 2005 season. After three years of work with the Harley-Davidson program, Tonglet notched his first victory on the Screamin' Eagle motorcycle. Tonglet recorded the low time of the meet as he beat Chris Rivas in the final round at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway.
"I can't begin to express how much that victory means to me because it was a long, long road to that winner's circle," Tonglet said. "It was awesome, to say the least. When I shut off at the end of the track I always look at the wall to see if the win-light is on in my lane. I do that every pass, no matter what. In Atlanta, the light was on and I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
"I won the race at St. Louis during my rookie season in 2001 but that seems like a hundred years ago. So many people worked so hard to make a two-bike Harley team competitive and I think that helped make the first win more exciting."
He may be just 22, but Tonglet has spent years in the racing industry. Tonglet was at the race track before he could spell the word 'speed.' His father, Gary Tonglet, won numerous Pro Stock races during Tonglet's childhood and the son was always in tow. By the time he was 2 years old, the younger Tonglet was riding dirt bikes on his uncle's farm in Mississippi. From that point forward, Tonglet studied his craft and became immersed in the sport of motorcycle racing.
By 14, Tonglet took over as his father's crew chief.
"I rode a motorcycle before I could ride a bicycle," Tonglet said. "My dad put a lot of faith in me when he made me the crew chief at that age. I made a few mistakes, but I learned from all of them. I was up on the line taking all the data, making sure he was lined up straight, making rpm adjustments, everything a crew chief does."
It didn't take long to convince his father that he was ready to compete too. At the end of his first season as a crew chief, Tonglet hopped on a Pro Stock Motorcycle and flew down the track. By 2000, Tonglet was crowned the International Drag Bike Association champion, taking home IDBA Rookie of the Year honors as well.
In 2001, he was ready to move up to the highest echelon of drag racing. He earned one victory (St. Louis) in three final rounds, became the youngest Pro Stock Bike rider to win (18) and finished sixth in the NHRA point standings during his rookie year. He was honored with the Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award (now given to the top rookie performer) and a career in professional drag racing was born. | | |  |
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