There’s a new motor in LE Tonglet’s Nitro Fish/Tonglet Racing Suzuki GSXR Pro Stock Motorcycle as the team prepares for a run at a third consecutive victory in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 Nationals this weekend at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill.

The new power plant became a necessity when the primary engine expired with a bang in Tonglet’s last race at Englishtown, N.J.

“Route 66 Raceway has been very good to us for the last two years and you know we’ll give it our best shot to get that third win a row there,” said Tonglet. “We’d like to bounce back from a slow start this year. The new motor is fast and we should be running better than we did at Englishtown.”

The mechanical failure came in the semifinals earlier this month and the 2010 series champion was able to move into eighth place in Full Throttle series standings.

Tonglet put his name into the archives with last year’s victory at Route 66 Raceway. He failed to qualify at the previous event in Norwalk, Ohio, when rain shortened qualifying to two sessions. He rebounded and became the first in his category to not qualify for one race and come back and win the next one.

This is the first of two back-to-back races. The team goes back to Norwalk next week for the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals.

“The races are going to be tough fights,” Tonglet commented. “It’s fun to race, but there’s a whole lot work and a lot of stress there, too.”

Other Associate Nitro Fish teams also in action:

Top Fuel: Clay Millican drives the Parts Plus dragster. He is 10th in series points.
Funny Car: Tony Pedregon is 15th in points in the Pedregon Racing Chevy Impala.
Pro Stock: newcomer Jeg Coughlin Jr., JEGS.com Mopar Dodge Avenger. He’s a 4-time series champion and is currently 12th in points.