NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

When Jerry Savoie walks out of his expansive White Alligator Racing hauler, he looks to the left and see’s the quickest Pro Stock Motorcycle in the sport, the Big St. Charles Suzuki ridden by his teammate, Karen Stoffer. Then he looks to the right and sees his own bike, a near twin to Stoffer’s but one that hasn’t won a race since the 2020 Dallas event.

In Gainesville, Stoffer made the two quickest runs in the history of the sport with a 6.66 and a 6.68 while Savoie’s best run was a 6.78 en route to a semifinal finish.

“It probably doesn’t look that way, but we’re not as far behind as you might think,” Savoie said. “One thing you need to understand about our team, Tim [Kulingian, crew chief] is always trying something and it almost always goes on my bike first. Some things work and some don’t so it sometimes looks like we’re lost. That’s just how we race. You can’t sit still in this class. You’ll never get anywhere.”

This weekend at the NHRA SpringNationals in Houston, Kulungian has made a big move. Savoie has switched bikes and he’s now riding the same White Alligator Suzuki he wheeled to the 2016 Pro Stock Motorcycle championship. It hasn’t been raced in nearly three years but Savoie and Kulungian believe it might be best suited to handle the added horsepower of the current Suzuki four-valve engines.

“We made some changes to this bike, and we just think it might be better,” Savoie said. “We haven’t had a race since Gainesville a month ago so we’ll see. We have the same power that Karen has so we should be really close.”

The fact that Savoie is even racing is a minor miracle since his business, Savoie’s Alligator Farm in Cutoff, La., is still recovering from the effects of Hurricane Ida last September. The alligator farm suffered significant damage and Savoie has spent the last six months rebuilding.

“That storm was no joke and I’m not sure people realize how bad things are down there,” Savoie said. “There are still a lot of buildings that are in ruins and I’m afraid some businesses are never coming back. We’re doing okay, but we still have a lot of work that needed to be done.”

Distractions aside, Savoie is convinced that he can regain his championship forum. In nothing else, he figures to easily improve on last year’s abbreviated campaign where he competed in 10 events and won just five elimination rounds.

“Can Karen and I qualify No. 1 and No. 2? Yeah, I think so,” Savoie said. “This is the closest thing we have to a home race, so I have a lot of support here. This would be a great place to turn things around.”