Image courtesy NHRA/National Dragster

After finishing 8^th in the standings last year, Jerry Savoie came into this season with hopes of finishing even higher. Throughout this season, he has switched back and forth between the Suzuki he rode last year and a Buell, but success has been hard to come by. Jerry has shown up at 10 of the 14 Full Throttle races where the two-wheeled class is contested and has a 0-9 round record with one DNQ. In Jerry’s eyes, it was time for a change. This weekend at the Big “O” Tires Nationals in Las Vegas, Jerry will return to his S&S-powered Buell and has formed an alliance with Matt Smith, who will serve as his crew chief.

“My bike is on the way to Las Vegas in Matt Smith’s trailer and I’ll be racing with him and [teammate] Michael Ray this weekend,” said Savoie. “Matt is a talented guy who can do just about everything. He is not only a great rider, but he also builds his own engines and he’s a first-rate crew chief. Last week, we sent my bike to Matt’s shop in North Carolina and he replaced the crankshaft and basically put his tune-up in the bike. Matt has been running really well lately so I’m pretty excited to go out there and see if we can make something happen.”

The Pro Stock Motorcycle class has been dominated by the Harley-Davidson team this season, and they’ve won every race contested except one. In Dallas, Matt Smith successfully tuned Michael Ray’s Buell to a win which was the first of Michael’s career. The new alliance with Smith has provided a strong reason for optimism in the White Alligator Racing camp.

“I’m determined to build a winning program here,” said Savoie. “In fact, I recently had a chance to sit down and talk with Don Schumacher and I asked him about the secret to his success. He simply told me to surround myself with good people, and I believe I’ve done that with Matt Smith.”